Information processing apparatus, semiconductor manufacturing system, information processing method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A information processing apparatus  100  for processing an acquired value, which is a value acquired in regard to a state during a treatment, performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus  200  for performing a treatment on a treatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value, which is a value for setting a condition of a treatment, includes: a set value receiving portion  101  for receiving the set value; a state value receiving portion  102  for receiving the acquired value; a correction amount calculating portion  103  for calculating a correction amount of the acquired value, using a correction function indicating a relationship between the set value and the acquired value; a correcting portion  104  for correcting the acquired value received by the state value receiving portion  102 , using the correction amount calculated by the correction amount calculating portion  103 ; and an output portion  105  for outputting a result of correction performed by the correcting portion  104.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to information processing apparatuses andthe like that process values acquired from semiconductor manufacturingapparatuses.

2. Description of Related Art

As a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing asemiconductor device, for example, there is a heat treatment apparatusfor performing a heat treatment such as a film-forming process, anoxidizing process, or a diffusion process, on a treatment targetincluding a semiconductor such as semiconductor wafers.

In a heat treatment apparatus and the like, typically, a heat treatmentis performed by controlling an item such as treatment temperature,treatment pressure, or gas flow rate so as to match a set value referredto as recipe, which is a value for setting a condition of the treatment.

For example, regarding such a heat treatment apparatus, there is atechnique for controlling the electric power of a heater, usingestimated values that are obtained by arranging multiple temperaturesensors in a reaction furnace, and sequentially estimating thetemperature of semiconductor wafers using a thermal model (mathematicalmodel) based on factors such as the output from the temperature sensorsand the electric power supplied to the heater (see JP 2002-25997A (e.g.,page 1, FIG. 1), for example). According to such a technique, thetemperature of semiconductor wafers in a non-contact state can berelatively accurately estimated, and thus the treatment temperature canbe precisely controlled.

In a heat treatment apparatus as described above, it is judged whetheror not the apparatus is properly operating, or whether or not a desiredtreatment is properly performed, by acquiring values indicating a stateduring a treatment, such as treatment temperature, treatment pressure,and electric power of a heater when a treatment is actually performed,and monitoring these values. For example, when in a single apparatus,results of a treatment performed for multiple times using the samerecipe are plotted on a graph in the course of time, time-seriesdeterioration or the like of the functions of the heat treatmentapparatus can be judged.

However, regarding results of treatments performed using different setvalues, values acquired from the heat treatment apparatus are typicallydifferent from each other, and thus values obtained for the respectiveset values are managed using, for example, different control charts.Thus, it is not possible to monitor the treatment resultssimultaneously. In order to monitor the treatment results, it isnecessary to switch the display of the control charts. Accordingly,there is a problem in that such operations take an inordinate amount ofeffort, and operations for monitoring are complicated.

Furthermore, since management is performed on the different controlcharts, it is difficult to simultaneously compare values of thetreatment results with each other. Even if values obtained using thedifferent set values are displayed in one system of coordinates, graphsof the values obtained using the different set values are plotted atpositions that are away from each other, and thus there is a problem inthat it is difficult to compare these values with each other.

Furthermore, typically, it is judged whether or not an apparatus or atreatment performed by an apparatus is properly operating, by setting athreshold value or the like for a value acquired from a heat treatmentapparatus or the like in advance, and judging whether the value acquiredfrom the heat treatment apparatus or the like is equal to or larger thanthe threshold value, or is smaller than the threshold value. When setvalues are different from each other, acquired values obtained from theheat treatment apparatus or the like are also different from each other.Thus, it is necessary to set threshold values in advance for therespective set values. Accordingly, there is a problem in that a processof setting threshold values takes an effort and time.

Furthermore, in a conventional information processing apparatus, it isdifficult to display values, for example, in different value units orvalue ranges acquired from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus ina superimposed manner, or to compare these values with each other. Forexample, even if internal temperature values acquired from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus and electric power values of aheater inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are plotted in asimply superimposed manner on a graph, it is difficult to accuratelycompare the values with each other because their units and the like aredifferent from each other.

Furthermore, it is substantially not possible to apply multivariateanalysis on such values in different units or the like without anyprocessing, because even if applied, obtained values vary depending onhow the units are taken.

Therefore, it is conceivable to perform so-called standardization onvalues acquired from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Thestandardization refers to a process in which the values are convertedinto values that are not affected by how the units are taken, byconverting the units of the values such that the average value and thestandard deviation are set to specified values, for example. Byperforming such standardization, information expressed in differentunits can be compared with each other and can be analyzed usingmultivariate analysis. Typically, the standardization is performed suchthat the average value is 0 and that the standard deviation is 1. Morespecifically, the standardization is performed by calculating theformula “(value indicating a state−average value)/standard deviation”,on each value indicating the state of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus, acquired from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Such conventional standardization is effective in a case where data isnormally-distributed, but there is a problem in that the standardizationis not suitable as a process performed in a case where data is notnormally-distributed.

For example, a case is described in which multivariate analysis isperformed on state values in different measurement units. Typically, inmultivariate analysis, standardization is performed as a preparationprocess such that there is no influence of the units and the like. Atthat time, there may be a case in which most state values areconcentrated in the vicinity of a particular value, and only one valueis significantly away from the particular value. In this case, there isa problem in that even if the one value is in the range of normal valuesas a value acquired from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, whenthe above-described standardization using the standard deviation isperformed, the value may be judged to be a value that is significantlydifferent from the others, as a result of the multivariate analysis.

Furthermore, in a case where values obtained by performing thestandardization in this manner on values in different measurement unitsare plotted in a superimposed manner on a graph or the like or comparedwith each other, the standardization is performed on the values indifferent measurement units themselves such that there is no influenceof the measurement units. However, when threshold values and the likeare set for the respective values, even when the standardization isperformed on the threshold values and the like, different thresholdvalues are obtained. Consequently, it is necessary to evaluate valuesobtained by performing the standardization on values in differentmeasurement units, using different threshold values. Thus, comparisonand the like between state values cannot be said to be sufficientlyeasy, and there is a problem in that the effects of the standardizationcannot be achieved.

As described above, conventionally, there is a problem in that values indifferent units or the like cannot be converted into appropriate valuesthat do not depend on measurement units and that are suitable for dataanalysis such as multivariate analysis or comparison between the values.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An information processing apparatus according to the present inventionis an information processing apparatus for processing a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value,which is a value for setting a condition of a treatment, comprising: aset value receiving portion that receives the set value; a state valuereceiving portion that receives the state value; a correction amountcalculating portion that calculates a correction amount of the statevalue, using a correction function, which is a function indicating arelationship between the set value and the correction amount; acorrecting portion that corrects the state value received by the statevalue receiving portion, using the correction amount calculated by thecorrection amount calculating portion; and an output portion thatoutputs the state value corrected by the correcting portion.

With this configuration, state values that are acquired from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like respectively in regardto treatments performed using different set values can be accuratelysuperimposed such that predicted state value that are predicted to beideally obtained for the respective set values are superimposed. Thus,the state values can be easily monitored. Furthermore, the state valuescan be easily compared with each other. As a result, abnormality in thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like can be easily found.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function indicating arelationship between a change amount of the set value and the correctionamount, which is a change amount of the state value predicted based onthe change amount of the set value, and the correction amountcalculating portion calculates the correction amount corresponding to achange amount, with respect to a predetermined value, of the set valuereceived by the set value receiving portion, using the correctionfunction.

With this configuration, state values according to treatments performedusing different set values can be accurately superimposed such thatstate values that are predicted to be ideally obtained for therespective set values are superimposed. Thus, the state values can beeasily monitored. Furthermore, the state values can be easily comparedwith each other.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function having, as acoefficient, a correction matrix for setting the correction function,the correction matrix being a matrix in which a value of each column isa value of a change amount of a state value obtained in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus is caused to perform a treatmentwhile a value of each element in a matrix representing a desired setvalue is sequentially changed by a unit amount.

With this configuration, a correction function is set according toactually measured values. Thus, it is possible to set a correctionfunction taking an actual state such as the arrangement state of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus into consideration. Accordingly,the state values obtained according to different set values can beaccurately superimposed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function having, as acoefficient, steady-state gain of a transfer function of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

With this configuration, a process of obtaining the coefficient of thecorrection function is not necessary. Thus, the correction function canbe set without causing the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus toperform a desired treatment. Accordingly, the setting of the correctionfunction can be simplified.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function indicating arelationship between the set value and the correction amount, which is astate value predicted based on the set value, and the correction amountcalculating portion calculates the correction amount corresponding tothe set value received by the set value receiving portion, using thecorrection function.

With this configuration, state values according to treatments performedusing different set values can be accurately superimposed such thatstate values that are predicted to be ideally obtained for therespective set values are superimposed. Thus, the state values can beeasily monitored. Furthermore, the state values can be easily comparedwith each other. As a result, abnormality in the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus or the like can be easily found.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function obtained using multiplegroups of the set value and the state value corresponding to the setvalue.

With this configuration, a correction function is set according toactually measured values. Thus, it is possible to set a correctionfunction taking an actual state of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus into consideration. Accordingly, the state values obtainedaccording to different set values can be accurately superimposed.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention further comprises a correction function generating portionthat generates the correction function, using multiple groups of the setvalue and the state value corresponding to the set value.

With this configuration, a correction function is set according toactually measured values. Thus, it is possible to set a correctionfunction taking an actual state of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus into consideration. Accordingly, the state values obtainedaccording to different set values can be accurately superimposed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the correction function is a function expressed as anapproximation formula obtained using multiple groups of the set valueand the state value corresponding to the set value.

With this configuration, a correction function is set according toactually measured values. Thus, it is possible to set a correctionfunction taking an actual state of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus into consideration. Accordingly, the state values obtainedaccording to different set values can be accurately superimposed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the set value is a value for setting a condition of atreatment on the treatment target inside the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus, and the state value is a value indicating a state during atreatment at a position other than a position at which the treatmenttarget is disposed in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

With this configuration, the state and the like of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus can be monitored based on the state during atreatment at a position other than the position at which the treatmenttarget is disposed in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the set value receiving portion receives multiple set values,the state value receiving portion receives multiple state valuesrespectively corresponding to the multiple set values, the correctionamount calculating portion calculates multiple correction amountsrespectively corresponding to the multiple state values, using thecorrection function, the correcting portion corrects the multiple statevalues respectively corresponding to the multiple correction amountscalculated by the correction amount calculating portion, by the multiplecorrection amounts, and the output portion outputs the multiple statevalues corrected by the correcting portion.

With this configuration, state values according to multiple set valuescan be accurately superimposed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the set value receiving portion receives a first set valueand a second set value each serving as the set value, the state valuereceiving portion receives a first state value and a second state valuerespectively corresponding to the first set value and the second setvalue, the correction amount calculating portion calculates a correctionamount of the second state value, based on a change amount of the secondset value with respect to the first set value serving as a predeterminedvalue, using the correction function, the correcting portion correctsthe second state value by the correction amount, and the output portionoutputs the second state value corrected by the correcting portion andthe first state value.

With this configuration, it is sufficient to correct only the secondstate value. Thus, the process time can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the set value is a set value of temperature inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and the state value is a measuredvalue of temperature inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

With this configuration, measured values of temperature obtained bycausing the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to perform a treatmentaccording to different temperature settings can be accuratelysuperimposed for monitoring or comparison.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the set value is a set value of temperature at apredetermined position inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,and the state value is a power value of a heater that heats an internalportion of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

With this configuration, power values of a heater obtained by causingthe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to perform a treatmentaccording to different temperature settings can be accuratelysuperimposed for monitoring or comparison.

Moreover, an information processing apparatus according to the presentinvention is an information processing apparatus for processing a statevalue, which is a value relating to a state during a treatment,performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing atreatment on a treatment target containing a semiconductor, comprising:a state value receiving portion that receives the state value; astandard value storage portion in which a standard value, which is avalue serving as standard for the state value, can be stored; athreshold value storage portion in which a threshold value, which is avalue used for judging whether or not the state value is a desiredvalue, can be stored; a calculating portion that calculates a ratiobetween a value relating to a difference between the state valuereceived by the state value receiving portion and the standard value,and a value relating to a difference between the threshold value and thestandard value; and an output portion that outputs the ratio calculatedby the calculating portion.

With this configuration, state values can be converted into ratios usingthreshold values and standard values. Thus, the state values can beconverted into values that do not depend on the measurement units andthat are suitable for analysis and the like. Furthermore, since thestate values are converted into ratios taking the relationship betweenthe condition values and the threshold values into consideration, thestate values can be evaluated using the same threshold value, withoutdepending on the measurement units. Accordingly, the state values can beeasily analyzed, for example.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the state value receiving portion receives multiple statevalues in different measurement units, the calculating portioncalculates the ratio corresponding to each of the multiple state valuesin different measurement units, and the output portion outputs themultiple ratios calculated by the calculating portion.

With this configuration, state values that are different from each otherin measurement unit such as unit can be converted into ratios usingthreshold values and standard values. Thus, the state values can beconverted into values that do not depend on the measurement units andthat are suitable for analysis and the like. Furthermore, since thestate values are converted into ratios taking the relationship betweenthe condition values and the threshold values into consideration, valuesin different measurement units can be evaluated using the same thresholdvalue. Accordingly, state values in different measurement units can beeasily analyzed, for example.

Moreover, an information processing apparatus according to the presentinvention is an information processing apparatus for processing a statevalue, which is a value relating to a state during a treatment,performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing atreatment on a treatment target containing a semiconductor, comprising:a state value receiving portion that receives the multiple state valuesin different measurement units; a standard value storage portion inwhich a standard value, which is a value serving as standard for thestate value, can be stored; a threshold value storage portion in which athreshold value, which is a value used for judging whether or not thestate value is a desired value, can be stored; a calculating portionthat calculates, for each of the multiple state values in differentmeasurement units, a ratio between a value relating to a differencebetween the state value received by the state value receiving portionand the standard value, and a value relating to a difference between thethreshold value and the standard value; a multivariate analysis portionthat performs multivariate analysis, using the multiple ratioscalculated by the calculating portion; and an output portion thatoutputs a result of analysis performed by the multivariate analysisportion.

With this configuration, state values that are different from each otherin measurement unit such as unit can be converted into ratios usingthreshold values and standard values. Thus, the state values can beconverted into values that do not depend on the measurement units andthat are suitable for analysis and the like. When multivariate analysisis performed using the converted state values, appropriate analysisresults taking the threshold values into consideration can be obtainedregardless of whether or not the state values are normally-distributed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the threshold value used by the calculating portion forcalculating a ratio is a value in a subrange to which the state valuebelongs, of a possible range of the state value that is divided into twosubranges by the standard value.

With this configuration, without depending on the measurement units, thestate values can be evaluated using the common threshold value, andappropriate multivariate analysis taking the threshold values intoconsideration can be performed.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the state value is a measured value of temperature inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus, or a value obtained bystatistically processing the measured value.

With this configuration, the state values can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the state value is a measured value of pressure inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus, or a value obtained bystatistically processing the measured value.

With this configuration, the state values can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the state value is a measured value of flow rate of gasintroduced into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, or a valueobtained by statistically processing the measured value.

With this configuration, the state values can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the multiple state values in different measurement units area measured value of temperature inside the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus and a measured value of pressure inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus, or values obtained by statistically processingthe measured values.

With this configuration, the state values can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus of the presentinvention, the multiple state values in different measurement unitsfurther include a measured value of flow rate of gas introduced into thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus, or a value obtained bystatistically processing the measured value.

With this configuration, the effects are achieved that the state valuescan be easily analyzed, for example.

Moreover, a semiconductor manufacturing system according to the presentinvention is a semiconductor manufacturing system, comprising asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor, and the above-describedinformation processing apparatus, wherein the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus comprises: a treatment state value acquiringportion that acquires the state value; and a treatment output portionthat outputs the state value.

With this configuration, the state values can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the semiconductor manufacturing system of the presentinvention, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus further comprises:a treatment vessel in which a treatment is performed on the treatmenttarget; and at least one temperature detecting portion that detectstemperature inside the treatment vessel, and the treatment state valueacquiring portion acquires a state value that is a value of temperaturedetected by the temperature detecting portion, or a value obtained bystatistically processing the value.

With this configuration, the temperature of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus can be easily analyzed, for example.

Furthermore, in the semiconductor manufacturing system of the presentinvention, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus further comprises:a treatment vessel in which a treatment is performed on the treatmenttarget; and a pressure detecting portion that detects pressure insidethe treatment vessel, and the treatment state value acquiring portionacquires a state value that is a value of pressure detected by thepressure detecting portion, or a value obtained by statisticallyprocessing the value.

With this configuration, the pressure can be easily analyzed, forexample.

Furthermore, in the semiconductor manufacturing system of the presentinvention, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus further comprises:a treatment vessel in which a treatment is performed on the treatmenttarget; and a gas flow rate detecting portion that detects flow rate ofgas introduced into the treatment vessel, and the treatment state valueacquiring portion acquires a state value that is a value of gas flowrate detected by the gas flow rate detecting portion, or a valueobtained by statistically processing the value.

With this configuration, the gas flow rate can be easily analyzed, forexample.

According to the information processing apparatus and the like of thepresent invention, values acquired from the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus or the like respectively in regard to treatments performedusing different set values can be easily monitored.

Furthermore, according to the information processing apparatus and thelike of the present invention, values that are different from each otherin measurement unit such as unit can be converted into values that donot depend on the measurement units and that are suitable for analysis,for example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a semiconductormanufacturing system in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an informationprocessing apparatus in the semiconductor manufacturing system.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the semiconductor manufacturingsystem.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing state values received by the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a modified example of the semiconductormanufacturing system.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a display example for illustrating theinformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a display example for illustrating theinformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a semiconductormanufacturing system in Embodiment 2.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an informationprocessing apparatus in the semiconductor manufacturing system.

FIG. 12 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the set valueand the state value received by the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the set valueof the temperature and the power value of heaters received by theinformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a semiconductormanufacturing system in Embodiment 3.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an informationprocessing apparatus in the semiconductor manufacturing system.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram of the semiconductor manufacturingsystem.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing first state values in the semiconductormanufacturing system.

FIG. 20 is a graph showing second state values in the semiconductormanufacturing system.

FIG. 21 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 22 is a graph for illustrating the operation of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 23 is a graph showing third state values in the semiconductormanufacturing system.

FIG. 24 is a graph showing a display example of the informationprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a modified example of thesemiconductor manufacturing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus and thelike are described with reference to the drawings. Components indicatedby the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similaroperations, and thus a description thereof may not be repeated.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of asemiconductor manufacturing system in this embodiment. The semiconductormanufacturing system is provided with an information processingapparatus 100 and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. Herein,an example is described in which the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is a heat treatment apparatus for performing treatmentsincluding a heat treatment and in which a treatment target is asemiconductor wafer. However, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 may be in any form, as long as it performs treatments on a treatmenttarget containing a semiconductor, and the treatment may be anytreatment. More specifically, the configuration of the present inventioncan be applied also to a case where the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is in a form other than a heat treatment apparatus, or acase where the treatment target is a material containing asemiconductor, other than a semiconductor wafer. Herein, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 are connected to each other such that information can be exchanged,for example, via a network such as the Internet or LAN, or a dedicatedsignal line.

The information processing apparatus 100 is provided with a set valuereceiving portion 101, a state value receiving portion 102, a correctionamount calculating portion 103, a correcting portion 104, an outputportion 105, a correction function storage portion 106, and a specifiedvalue storage portion 107.

The set value receiving portion 101 receives a set value, which is avalue for setting a condition of a treatment of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus. Herein, for example, it is assumed that the setvalue received by the set value receiving portion 101 is a value forsetting a condition of a treatment on a treatment target inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. Specific examples of the setvalue include values for setting treatment temperature, treatmentpressure, gas flow rate, heater electric power of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200. Herein, an example is specificallydescribed in which the set value is a value for setting the temperatureof one or more semiconductor wafers inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200. In a case where a condition of thetreatment is to be set at multiple points in the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200, the set value receiving portion 101 mayreceive one or more set values for setting the condition at part orwhole of the multiple points. For example, in a case where thetemperature can be controlled at multiple areas inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200, set values for setting temperature may bereceived for the respective areas. Furthermore, in a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus such as a heat treatment apparatus forperforming a batch process, the set value receiving portion 101 mayreceive set values that are different from batch to batch. Examples ofthe reception performed by the set value receiving portion 101 includereception from an input unit, reception of an input signal thattransmitted from another device or the like, and reading out ofinformation from a storage medium or the like. Herein, an example isdescribed in which the set value receiving portion 101 receives a setvalue output from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200(described later), but there is no limitation on the manner in which theset value receiving portion 101 receives the set value. An input unit ofthe set value to the set value receiving portion 101 may be in any form,such as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a menu screen, or acommunication device such as a network card. The set value receivingportion 101 may or may not be provided with a device for reading outinformation from a communication device or a storage medium. The setvalue receiving portion 101 can be implemented by a device driver of aninput unit such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software fora menu screen, or a driver of a communication device, for example.

The state value receiving portion 102 receives a state value, which is avalue acquired in regard to a state during a treatment of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. “State value” herein refersto a value acquired when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200is performing a treatment according to the set value. “Value acquired inregard to a state during a treatment” may be any value, as long as itcan be acquired and can indicate a state during a treatment of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. Specific examples thereofinclude a measured value that is acquired during a treatment, from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 itself or the internalenvironment of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, acalculated value that is calculated using this measured value, and avalue that is internally controlled during a treatment by thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. Examples of the state valueinclude a value obtained by measuring the temperature during a treatmentat a desired position inside a treatment vessel 211 in the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 using a temperature sensor or the like, avalue obtained by measuring the treatment pressure using a pressuregauge or the like, a power value of a heater measured by a wattmeter,and an average value, a maximum value, a minimum value, and a standarddeviation of the measured values. Furthermore, the state value may be apower value of an internal heater calculated based on, for example,voltage or current supplied during a treatment from the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus to the heater. It should be noted that there ispreferably a correlation between the above-described set value receivedby the set value receiving portion 101 and the state value received bythe state value receiving portion 102. For example, if the set value isa set temperature at a desired position inside the treatment vessel 211in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, then the temperatureat a predetermined position inside the treatment vessel 211 in thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or the output from the heaterduring a treatment is taken as the state value received by the statevalue receiving portion 102. The state value may be one value, may bemultiple values such as multiple values acquired in the course of time,or may be a value acquired each time the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus performs a batch process. There is no limitation on the mannerin which the state value receiving portion 102 receives the state value.For example, the state value receiving portion 102 may receive the statevalue that transmitted from another device or the like via acommunication line, or may read out the state value that is stored in astorage medium or the like. Furthermore, the state value receivingportion 102 may receive the state value that is input from an input unitsuch as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menu screen. Thestate value receiving portion 102 can be implemented by a device driverof an input unit such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, controlsoftware for a menu screen, a driver of a communication device, or adriver of a device for reading out information from a storage medium,such as a memory card reader or a CD drive, for example.

The correction amount calculating portion 103 calculates a correctionamount using a correction function, which is a function indicating therelationship between the set value and a correction amount of the statevalue. The correction amount refers to a value used for correction. Thecorrection function is, for example, a function indicating therelationship between the change amount of the set value received by theset value receiving portion 101 and the correction amount, which is thechange amount of the state value predicted based on the change amount ofthe set value. Herein, using the correction function, the correctionamount calculating portion 103 calculates the correction amountcorresponding to a change amount, with respect to a predetermined value,of the set value received by the set value receiving portion 101.Herein, the predetermined value is referred to as a specified value. Thespecified value is described later. In this embodiment, morespecifically, the correction amount calculating portion 103 calculatesthe correction amount by assigning a change amount, with respect to apreset specified value, of the set value received by the set valuereceiving portion 101 to the above-described correction function. Itshould be noted that the predicted state value specifically refers to anideal state value that is predicted to be obtained in a case where idealcontrol is performed according to the set value in the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus. The change amount described herein typicallyrefers to a value obtained by subtracting a value such as the set valueor the state value before change from a value such as the set value orthe state value after change. The change amount also may be an absolutevalue of the value obtained by this subtraction. Furthermore, thecorrection amount also may be an absolute value. The correction functionis described later in detail. The correction function is stored in astorage medium such as a memory in advance, and read out whencalculating the correction amount, for example. Herein, it is assumedthat the correction function is stored in the correction functionstorage portion 106. The specified value is a preset value forspecifying a value into which the set value received by the set valuereceiving portion 101 is to be converted. The specified value may bearbitrarily set by the user, or may be set by the information processingapparatus 100 according to the set value or the state value received bythe information processing apparatus 100, for example. For example, whenmultiple set values are received, one of the set values may be taken asthe specified value, or any value between the set values such as anintermediate value may be taken as the specified value. The correctionamount obtained using the correction function is a correction amountthat is necessary for each state value, in a case where the set value isconverted into the specified value. More specifically, when the statevalue received by the state value receiving portion 102 is correctedusing the correction amount, the state value received by the state valuereceiving portion 102 is corrected into the state value obtained in acase where the set value is the specified value. The specified value maybe stored in a storage medium such as a memory in advance, or may bereceived as appropriate from a receiving portion such as the set valuereceiving portion 101 described above. Herein, a case is described inwhich the specified value stored in advance in the specified valuestorage portion 107 is read out by the correction amount calculatingportion 103. The correction amount calculating portion 103 can betypically implemented as an MPU (micro processing unit) or a memory, forexample. Typically, the process procedure of the correction amountcalculating portion 103 is implemented by software, and the software isstored in a storage medium such as a ROM. Note that the processprocedure also may be implemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The correcting portion 104 corrects the state value received by thestate value receiving portion 102, using the correction amountcalculated by the correction amount calculating portion 103, therebyacquiring a new state value. For example, the correcting portion 104performs correction in which the correction amount is subtracted fromthe state value received by the state value receiving portion 102. Itshould be noted that in a case where the correction amount is anabsolute value, the correcting portion 104 performs correction thateventually provides the same correction results as those obtained in acase where the correction amount is not an absolute value. Thecorrecting portion 104 can be typically implemented as an MPU or amemory, for example. Typically, the process procedure of the correctingportion is implemented by software, and the software is stored in astorage medium such as a ROM (read only memory). Note that the processprocedure also may be implemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The output portion 105 outputs the state value corrected by thecorrecting portion 104. Herein, the term “output” is a concept thatincludes displaying on a display screen, printing on paper or the likeusing a printer, accumulation in a storage medium such as a memory, andtransmission to an external apparatus. The output portion 105 may or maynot include an output device such as a display screen or a printer. Theoutput portion 105 can be implemented by driver software for an outputdevice, or a combination of driver software for an output device and theoutput device, for example.

The correction function is stored in the correction function storageportion 106. The phrase “correction function is stored” refers to astate in which information indicating the correction function is stored.There is no limitation on the correction function storage portion 106,as long as the correction function can be stored therein. Typically, thecorrection function storage portion 106 is preferably a non-volatilestorage medium, but also can be implemented as a volatile storagemedium.

The specified value is stored in the specified value storage portion107. There is no limitation on the specified value storage portion 107,as long as the specified value can be stored therein. Typically, thespecified value storage portion 107 is preferably a non-volatile storagemedium, but also can be implemented as a volatile storage medium.

Next, the configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200is described. It should be noted that the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 has the configuration for performing a desired treatmenton a treatment target according to various settings, for example.However, this specification describes only the primary configuration forperforming a desired treatment on a treatment target according to theabove-described set value, and the primary configuration for acquiringthe above-described state value in a state where the desired treatmentis performed on a treatment target. The other configurations and thelike are known arts, and therefore a description thereof is omitted.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is provided with thetreatment vessel 211. The treatment vessel 211 is also referred to as areactor vessel or a reaction furnace, for example. In the treatmentvessel 211, a semiconductor wafer 250 serving as the treatment target iscontained and undergoes a predetermined heat treatment such as a CVD(chemical vapor deposition) process. The treatment vessel 211 is made ofa heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant material such as quartz glass.The treatment vessel 211 has a single tube structure in which the upperend and lower end are opened. The upper end is narrowed to a smalldiameter and forms an exhaust portion 212. The exhaust portion 212 isconnected via an exhaust pipe (not shown) to a vacuum pump (not shown),for example.

A gas introducing portion 213 for introducing treatment gas or inert gasinto the treatment vessel 211 is disposed in the lower portion of thetreatment vessel 211. Multiple gas-supplying pipes 214 communicated witha gas source are inserted into the gas introducing portion 213.Treatment gas introduced from the gas introducing portion 213 risesthrough the treatment vessel 211, is supplied to a predetermined heattreatment on the semiconductor wafer 250, and then is exhausted from theexhaust portion 212.

A flange-shaped lower end portion 215 of the treatment vessel 211 isopened and closed by a cover 221 made of a heat-resistant andcorrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel. The cover 221 isvertically moved by a lift (not shown), thereby tightly closing thelower end portion 215 of the treatment vessel 211 at the liftedposition, and opening the lower end portion 215 of the treatment vessel211 at the lowered position.

An O-ring 222 for securing air tightness is disposed between the lowerend portion 215 of the treatment vessel 211 and the cover 221.

A rotating support post 223 is rotatably provided upright at a centralportion of the cover 221, and a rotating table 224 is secured to theupper end of the rotating support post 223.

Furthermore, a driving portion 225 for driving to rotate the rotatingsupport post 223 is provided below the cover 221.

On the rotating table 224, a boat 226 made of quartz glass (so-calledsemiconductor wafer boat) in which, for example, 60 semiconductor wafers250 can be mounted at a predetermined interval in the height directionis placed. The boat 226 is placed on the rotating table 224 in a statewhere the cover 221 has been lowered, is completely loaded into thetreatment vessel 211 when the cover 221 is lifted to tightly close thelower end portion 215 of the treatment vessel 211, and is unloaded asthe cover 221 is lowered after the treatment has been completed.Furthermore, during a process, the boat 226 rotates as the rotatingtable 224 is rotated by the driving portion 225, and thus a uniform heattreatment is performed on the semiconductor wafers 250.

The treatment vessel 211 is surrounded by a heating furnace 230 providedwith one or more heaters 231, which are heating units for heating thesemiconductor wafers 250 contained in the treatment vessel 211, from theperipheral portion of the semiconductor wafers 250. The heaters 231 arearranged along the periphery of the treatment vessel 211. The heaters231 have resistance heat generating members, and generate heat whenelectric power is supplied, for example. As the resistance heatgenerating members, it is preferable to use a carbon wire or the likethat is excellent in temperature rising and falling properties. However,there is no limitation on the structure or the like of the heaters 231.Herein, an example is shown in which the one or more heaters 231 areconstituted by five heaters 231 a to 231 e, but there is no limitationon the number of the heaters. The heaters 231 a to 231 e are arrangedalong the direction in which the semiconductor wafers 250 are aligned.However, there is no limitation on the points at which the heaters 231 ato 231 e are arranged.

One or more temperature detecting portions 241 are provided along theouter circumferential face of the treatment vessel 211. Herein, anexample is described in which the one or more temperature detectingportions 241 are constituted by five temperature detecting portions 241a to 241 e, but there is no limitation on the number of the temperaturedetecting portions 241. Herein, the five temperature detecting portions241 a to 241 e are arranged in one row in the vertical direction, butthere is no limitation on the points at which the temperature detectingportions 241 are arranged. The temperature detecting portions 241 a to241 e detect temperature, and output an electric signal corresponding tothe detected temperature. The temperature detecting portions 241 a to241 e are specifically temperature sensors, and may have any structuresuch as a thermocouple, as long as the temperature can be detectedthereby. It should be noted that there is no limitation on thearrangement of the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e. Asdescribed later, the output of the temperature detecting portions 241 ato 241 e is used for predicting the surface temperature of thesemiconductor wafers 250 that are arranged in the boat 226.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is further provided with atreatment set value receiving portion 201, a control portion 202, atreatment state value acquiring portion 203, and a treatment outputportion 204.

The treatment set value receiving portion 201 receives a set value forsetting a condition of a treatment on a treatment target. Morespecifically, the set value received by the treatment set valuereceiving portion 201 is the above-described set value received by theset value receiving portion 101. In a case where a condition of atreatment is to be set at multiple points in the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200, the treatment set value receiving portion201 may receive one or more set values for setting the condition at partor whole of the multiple points. For example, in a case where thetemperature can be controlled at multiple areas inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200, set values for setting temperature may bereceived for the respective areas. Furthermore, in a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus for performing a batch process, such as abatch-type heat treatment apparatus, the treatment set value receivingportion 201 may receive set values that are different from batch tobatch. Herein, it is assumed that the set value is a set value of thetemperature of the one or more semiconductor wafers inside the treatmentvessel 211, as described above. When setting the temperature of multiplesemiconductor wafers 250, the treatment set value receiving portion 201receives set values for the respective positions of the semiconductorwafers 250. There is no limitation on the manner in which the treatmentset value receiving portion 201 receives the state value. For example,the treatment set value receiving portion 201 may receive the statevalue that transmitted from another device or the like via acommunication line, or may read out the state value that is stored in astorage medium or the like. Furthermore, the treatment set valuereceiving portion 201 may receive the state value that is input from aninput unit such as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menuscreen. Herein, an example is described in which the set value that hasbeen received by the treatment set value receiving portion 201 is outputby the treatment output portion 204 to the set value receiving portion101 in the information processing apparatus 100, and this set value isreceived by the set value receiving portion 101. The treatment set valuereceiving portion 201 can be implemented by a device driver of an inputunit such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menuscreen, a driver of a communication device, or a driver of a device forreading out information from a storage medium, such as a memory cardreader or a CD drive, for example.

The control portion 202 controls the operation of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 according to the set value received by thetreatment set value receiving portion 201. For example, in a case wherethe set value is a value for setting temperature, the control portion202 performs control such that the temperature inside the treatmentvessel 211 matches the temperature set by the set value, by controllingthe output of the heaters 231 according to the temperature detected bythe one or more temperature detecting portions 241. There is nolimitation on the manner in which the control portion 202 controls thestate inside the treatment vessel 211 according to the set value. Forexample, it is possible to apply so-called feedback control in which astate serving as a control target is detected at a control target pointby a sensor or the like, and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 is controlled such that the detection results match the set value.Herein, an example is described in which the control portion 202performs control such that the temperature at a position for which theset value is to be set, such as a treatment target or a specific zoneinside the treatment vessel 211, matches the temperature set by the setvalue. Herein, an example is specifically described in which asdisclosed in JP 2002-25997A described above, the control portion 202estimates the temperature of a predetermined treatment target or zoneinside the treatment vessel 211, based on the temperature detected bythe temperature detecting portions 241, using a model that is forestimating the temperature of the treatment target or zone and that isstored in a storage portion or the like (not shown), and individuallycontrols the one or more heaters 231 according to this estimation suchthat the temperature of the treatment target or zone matches thetemperature set by the set value. The control portion 202 performscontrol of the entire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 otherthan the above, such as control of gas flow rate, control ofopening/closing of a valve, and control of the boat lift, but suchcontrol is a known art, and therefore a description thereof is omitted.The control portion 202 can be typically implemented as an MPU or amemory, for example. Typically, the process procedure of the controlportion 202 is implemented by software, and the software is stored in astorage medium such as a ROM. Note that the process procedure also maybe implemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The treatment state value acquiring portion 203 acquires a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200. Typically, this state valueis the same as the above-described state value received by the statevalue receiving portion 102. Examples of the state value includetemperature values detected by the temperature detecting portions 241,that is, measured values, and power values of the heaters 231. Forexample, in a state where a predetermined treatment is performed on atreatment target, based on a signal that is output as a result ofdetecting the temperature with the temperature detecting portions, thetreatment state value acquiring portion 203 acquires the state valuethat is a temperature value corresponding to that signal. Furthermore,the treatment state value acquiring portion 203 may acquire the statevale that is a power value of the heaters 231 controlled by the controlportion 202, or may acquire the state value that is a power value of theheaters 231 based on a power value detected by a wattmeter (not shown).Herein, a case is described in which the output of the temperaturedetecting portions 241 is once input to the control portion 202, and theoutput of the temperature detecting portions 241 is output from thecontrol portion 202 to the treatment state value acquiring portion 203.However, the output of the temperature detecting portions 241 may bedirectly received by the treatment state value acquiring portion 203.Furthermore, in this case, the input received by the treatment statevalue acquiring portion 203 may be output by the treatment state valueacquiring portion 203 as appropriate to the control portion 202. Thetreatment state value acquiring portion 203 can be typically implementedas an MPU or a memory, for example. Typically, the process procedure ofthe treatment state value acquiring portion 203 is implemented bysoftware, and the software is stored in a storage medium such as a ROM.Note that the process procedure also may be implemented by hardware(dedicated circuit).

The treatment output portion 204 outputs the state value acquired by thetreatment state value acquiring portion 203. Herein, an example isdescribed in which the treatment output portion 204 transmits the statevalue acquired by the treatment state value acquiring portion 203, tothe state value receiving portion 102 in the information processingapparatus 100. There is no limitation on a timing, trigger, or the likefor outputting the state value from the treatment output portion 204 tothe state value receiving portion 102. For example, it is not necessaryfor the treatment output portion 204 to output a state value every timethe treatment state value acquiring portion 203 acquires a valuerelating to a state during a treatment. The treatment output portion 204also may output multiple values after the multiple values aretemporarily accumulated in a memory or the like. Furthermore, the statevalue output by the treatment output portion 204 may be accumulated in astorage medium such as a memory (not shown) inside the informationprocessing apparatus 100. Furthermore, the treatment output portion 204may output the set value received by the treatment set value receivingportion 201, to the set value receiving portion 101. Furthermore, thetreatment output portion 204 may exchange information relating to atreatment or the like with the information processing apparatus 100, viaa removable storage medium or the like. Herein, the term “output” is aconcept that includes transmission to an external apparatus, andaccumulation in a storage medium such as a memory. The treatment outputportion 204 may or may not include an output device such as acommunication device. The treatment output portion 204 can beimplemented by driver software for an output device, or a combination ofdriver software for an output device and the output device, for example.

Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 isdescribed with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 2. Herein, for thesake of convenience, a case is described in which the informationprocessing apparatus 100 receives a set value set for performing adesired treatment, and multiple state values acquired at different timesin a case where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is causedto perform the desired treatment according to this set value that havebeen output by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or thelike. Herein, it is assumed that each of the multiple state values isassociated with information of the time when that state value isacquired.

(step S201) The set value receiving portion 101 receives a set valuethat is output by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or thelike. The received set value is at least temporarily accumulated in astorage medium such as a memory (not shown).

(step S202) The state value receiving portion 102 receives multiplestate values that are output by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 or the like. The received state values are accumulated ina storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

(step S203) The correction amount calculating portion 103 acquires acorrection function stored in advance, from the correction functionstorage portion 106.

(step S204) The correction amount calculating portion 103 acquires aspecified value stored in advance, from the specified value storageportion 107.

(step S205) The correction amount calculating portion 103 calculates achange amount of the set value received in step S201, with respect tothe specified value acquired in step S204. More specifically, the changeamount is obtained by subtracting the specified value from the setvalue.

(step S206) The correction amount is calculated by assigning the changeamount calculated in step S205, to the correction function acquired instep S203.

(step S207) The correcting portion 104 assigns 1 to a counter K.

(step S208) The correcting portion 104 acquires a Kth state value.Herein, the state value receiving portion 102 acquires a state valuethat is a Kth value in time-series order acquired by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 or the like, among set values accumulated ina memory or the like (not shown).

(step S209) The correcting portion 104 corrects the state value acquiredin step S208, by the correction amount acquired in step S206.

(step S210) The output portion 105 outputs the state value corrected instep S209. For example, the output portion 105 stores the correctedstate value in a memory, displays it on a display screen, or transmitsit to another apparatus.

(step S211) The correcting portion 104 increments the counter K by 1.

(step S212) The correcting portion 104 judges whether or not there is aKth state value. If there is a Kth state value, then the procedurereturns to step S208. If there is no Kth state value, then the processis ended.

It should be noted that in the flowchart in FIG. 2, the above-describedprocess may be performed in a state where multiple set values used forone batch, multiple specified values, multiple state values acquired atone time, and the like are expressed as a matrix. For example, in a casewhere the temperature is to be set at multiple zones inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, the set values and thespecified values may be expressed as a matrix in which the number ofelements is the same as the number of the zones. Furthermore, in a casewhere respective power values of the multiple heaters 231 or multiplevalues obtained from the temperatures acquired by the multipletemperature detecting portions 241 are used as the state values, thestate values may be expressed as a matrix in which the number ofelements matches the number of the heaters 231 or the number of thetemperature detecting portions 241. In this case, the process in stepS205, step S206, step S209, and the like is performed by a matrixoperation, for example.

In the description above, a case is described in which a process such ascorrection is performed on state values obtained as a result ofperforming a treatment using one set value. However, in a case where atreatment is performed while changing the set value from batch to batch,for example, a process such as correction may be performed on statevalues respectively obtained for the different set values. For example,in a case where multiple set values can be received in step S201 andwhere state values corresponding to the multiple set values can bereceived in step S202, after the process has been performed on one setvalue following the above-described flowchart, it may be judged whetheror not there is another set value. If there is another set value, thenthe procedure returns to, for example, step S204, where a process suchas correction is repeatedly performed on a state value obtained foranother set value as in the above-described flowchart.

In the flowchart in FIG. 2, the process is ended by turning off power ora processing-ending interruption.

The above-described operation in which the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 in the semiconductor manufacturing system performs adesired treatment according to the set value, or acquires the statevalue is a known art, and therefore a description thereof is omitted.

Next, a method for acquiring the above-described correction function isdescribed.

Herein, first, it is assumed that m treatment conditions (m is aninteger of 1 or more) can be set for the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus, and that n state values (n is an integer of 1 or more), suchas state values acquired from n measurement target positions, can beacquired at once from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200.

A set value for setting an ith treatment condition among the m treatmentconditions is taken as X_(i) (1≦i≦m), and set values for setting the mtreatment conditions are taken as X, where X=(X₁, . . . , X_(i), . . . ,X_(m)). Furthermore, specified values for specifying values into whichthe set values X are to be converted are taken as x, where x=(x₁, . . ., x_(i), . . . , x_(m)). Each element of the specified values x forspecifying a value into which each element X_(i) of the set values X isto be converted is x_(i). State values that are predicted to be ideallyobtained in a case where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus iscaused to perform a desired treatment using the set value X_(i) aretaken as Q, where Q=(Q₁, . . . , Q_(j), . . . Q_(n)). State values thatare predicted to be ideally obtained in a case where the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus is caused to perform a desired treatment usingthe set value x_(i) are taken as q, where q=(q₁, . . . , q_(j), . . .q_(n)). Furthermore, ith state values are respectively taken as Q_(j)and q_(j) (1≦j≦n). Examples of the desired treatment include treatmentssuch as a heat treatment that is performed by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus on a semiconductor wafer. It should be notedthat the specified values x may be any value, but in a case where theset value X can take multiple values, a value between the maximum valueand the minimum value of the multiple set values X or a value in thevicinity thereof is preferable.

Next, the set values X=(X₁, . . . , X_(i), . . . X_(m)) are convertedinto desired set values Sp for setting a correction function that areexpressed as a matrix. Herein, the set values Sp=(Sp₁, . . . , Sp_(i), .. . Sp_(m)). The elements of the set values Sp may be the same value ordifferent values. The set values Sp may be any value, but in a casewhere the set value X can take multiple values, a value between themaximum value and the minimum value of the multiple set values X or avalue in the vicinity thereof is preferable. A value in the vicinity ofthe above-described specified value x is more preferable.

First, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is caused toperform a desired treatment such as a heat treatment using the setvalues Sp. Then, n state values that are output from the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 during this treatment are acquired. Thestate values are herein referred to as initial state values.

Next, only the first element among the set values Sp is increased by theunit amount, herein, by one, and the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is caused to perform a desired treatment using the changedset values. It should be noted that although the element is increasedherein, the element also may be decreased by the unit amount.

Then, n state values that are output from the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 during this treatment are acquired. Thechange amounts of the n state values are obtained by subtracting theinitial state values from the n state values. The change amounts of then state values are expressed as a matrix (a_(1i), . . . , a_(ji), . . ., a_(ni)).

In a similar manner, only the ith element among the set values Sp isincreased by the unit amount, herein, by one, and the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is caused to perform a treatment using thechanged set values. The change amounts (a_(1i), . . . , a_(ji), . . . ,a_(ni)) of the state values are acquired by subtracting the initialstate values from state values obtained during this treatment.

This process is sequentially performed until i=m, and a matrix A isobtained in which the change amounts of the state values obtained whenthe ith element of the set values Sp is increased by the unit amount areset to values in an ith column. The matrix A can be expressed as below.

$A = \begin{pmatrix}a_{11} & \cdots & a_{1i} & \cdots & a_{1m} \\\vdots & ⋰ & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\a_{j\; 1} & \cdots & a_{ji} & \cdots & a_{jm} \\\vdots & \ddots & \vdots & ⋰ & \vdots \\a_{n\; 1} & \cdots & a_{ni} & \cdots & a_{nm}\end{pmatrix}$

Then, the following correction function having the matrix A as acoefficient is defined.

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\; Q} = \left( {Q \cdot q} \right)} \\{= {A\left( {X \cdot x} \right)}} \\{= \begin{pmatrix}{\Delta\; Q_{1}} \\\vdots \\{\Delta\; Q_{j}} \\\vdots \\{\Delta\; Q_{n}}\end{pmatrix}} \\{= {\begin{pmatrix}a_{11} & \cdots & a_{1i} & \cdots & a_{1m} \\\vdots & ⋰ & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\a_{j\; 1} & \cdots & a_{ji} & \cdots & a_{jm} \\\vdots & \ddots & \vdots & ⋰ & \vdots \\a_{n\; 1} & \cdots & a_{ni} & \cdots & a_{nm}\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix}{X_{1} - x_{1}} \\\vdots \\{X_{i} - x_{i}} \\\vdots \\{X_{m} - x_{m}}\end{pmatrix}}}\end{matrix}$

In this correction function, ΔQ=(ΔQ₁, . . . , ΔQ_(j), . . . ΔQ_(n))represents the change amount between the ideal state value Q that ispredicted to be obtained in a case where the set value is X and theideal state value q that is predicted to be obtained in a case where theset value is the specified value x. The correction function is afunction indicating the relationship between the change amount ΔQ andstate values that are predicted to be obtained in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is controlled according to theset values x and X when the set value is changed from x to X. Morespecifically, when the state value acquired from the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 using the set value X is corrected using ΔQas the correction amount, the state value can be corrected into thestate value that is to be acquired in a case where the set value is thespecified value x.

For example, a case is described in which the set value is a set valueof the treatment temperature of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200. As in JP 2002-25997A described above, in a case where theposition of a target that is to be controlled according to the setvalue, such as a semiconductor wafer, is different from that of atemperature detecting portion for detecting temperature, or in a casewhere the arrangement of a temperature detecting portion disposed at acontrol target position in order to perform feedback control isdifferent from that of a temperature detecting portion disposed in orderto output the state value to the outside, the temperature at theposition controlled according to the set value typically takes differentvalues between the set value and the state value. Furthermore, thedegree of difference in the temperature varies depending on factors suchas the set value of the temperature, and is not constant. In order tocompare state values obtained by causing the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 to perform a desired treatment at different times using afirst set value and a second set value that are different from eachother, a method is conceivable in which the state values are comparedwith each other by constituting the state values obtained in a casewhere the second set value is superimposed on the first set value, bysubtracting a change amount of the second set value with respect to thefirst set value, from the state value obtained based on the second setvalue. However, in such a case, the change amount of the set value maynot necessarily match the change amount of the state value obtained byperforming control according to the set value, and thus the differentstate values may not be accurately compared with each other.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the correction functionindicating the relationship between the change amount of the set valueand the change amount of the state value is acquired, actually based onthe state values. Thus, when the difference between the set value andthe specified value serving as a value to which the set value is to beconverted is assigned to the correction function, it is possible toobtain the change amount of the state value in an ideal case.Accordingly, when the state value is corrected, herein, subtracted usingthis change amount as the correction amount, it is possible to obtain anideal state value that is predicted to be obtained in a case where theset value is the specified value.

Hereinafter, the specific operation of the semiconductor manufacturingsystem in this embodiment is described. FIG. 3 shows a conceptualdiagram of the semiconductor manufacturing system. Herein, it is assumedthat the information processing apparatus 100 is implemented by acomputer 10, for example. Furthermore, it is herein assumed that thetreatment set value receiving portion 201, the control portion 202, thetreatment state value acquiring portion 203, and the treatment outputportion 204 in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 areimplemented by a computer 20 for control, which is a part of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, for example. It should benoted that the set value and the state value used herein are valuesprepared for explanation, and are different from an actual set value ora state value obtained when performing a treatment according to the setvalue.

Herein, for example, it is assumed that the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is a heat treatment apparatus, and that the area in whichsemiconductor wafers are arranged inside the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is divided into five zones Za to Ze arranged in thevertical direction. The treatment temperature can be set for thesemiconductor wafers in each of the five zones Za to Ze inside thetreatment vessel 211 in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200,and the state value receiving portion 102 receives five state valuescorresponding to the temperatures respectively detected by the fivetemperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e.

Herein, two groups of different set values of temperature are preparedfor the semiconductor wafers in the five zones Za to Ze. Of the setvalues in two groups, the set values in the first group (hereinafter,referred to as “first set values”) are taken as (700, 695, 695, 705,710), and the set values in the second group (hereinafter, referred toas “second set values”) are taken as (600, 605, 600, 610, 610). Thefirst set values indicate that the temperature of the semiconductorwafers in the zone Za is set to 700° C., that in the zone Zb is set to695° C., that in the zone Zc is set to 695° C., that in the zone Zd isset to 705° C., and that in the zone Ze is set to 710° C. The second setvalues indicate that the temperatures are set in a similar manner. Afterthe temperature of the semiconductor wafers in the respective zones isset using the first set values, the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 performs a predetermined treatment on the semiconductorwafers repeatedly on a batch-to-batch basis. Then, the state valuereceiving portion 102 acquires respective average values per batch ofthe five state values corresponding to the temperatures respectivelydetected by the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e in aperiod during which the treatment temperature is stable.

Herein, first, a correction function is prepared. More specifically, setvalues for setting the correction function, for example, set values(Sp₁, Sp₂, Sp₃, Sp₄, Sp₅) of the treatment temperature on thesemiconductor wafers in the five zones are prepared. Then, using thevalues as the set values for the zones Za to Ze, the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is caused to perform a heat treatment.During the heat treatment, based on the temperatures sequentiallydetected respectively by the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241e in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, the treatment statevalue acquiring portion 203 sequentially acquires treatment temperaturevalues at the respective positions of the temperature detecting portions241 a to 241 e, and calculates average values of the treatmenttemperatures at the positions. The average values of the treatmenttemperatures at the respective five positions are obtained as initialstate values T₀ described above. Herein, the initial state valuesT₀=(T₀₁, T₀₂, T₀₃, T₀₄, T₀₅), for example.

Next, the set values for setting the correction function are changedinto (Sp₁₊₁, Sp₂, Sp₃, Sp₄, Sp₅), and average values T₁=(T₁₁, T₁₂, T₁₃,T₁₄, T₁₅) per batch of the treatment temperature at the respectivepositions of the five temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e areacquired in a similar manner.

In a similar manner, the set values for setting the correction functionare changed into (Sp₁, Sp₂₊₁, Sp₃, Sp₄, Sp₅), and average valuesT₂=(T₂₁, T₂₂, T₂₃, T₂₄, T₂₅) of the treatment temperature are acquired.The set values for setting the correction function are changed into(Sp₁, Sp₂, Sp₃₊₁, Sp₄, Sp₅), and average values T₃=(T₃₁, T₃₂, T₃₃, T₃₄,T₃₅) of the treatment temperature are acquired. The set values forsetting the correction function are changed into (Sp₁, Sp₂, Sp₃, Sp₄₊₁,Sp₅), and average values T₄=(T₄₁, T₄₂, T₄₃, T₄₄, T₄₅) of the treatmenttemperature are acquired. The set values for setting the correctionfunction are changed into (Sp₁, Sp₂, Sp₃, Sp₄, Sp₅₊₁), and averagevalues T₅=(T₅₁, T₅₂, T₅₃, T₅₄, T₅₅) of the treatment temperature areacquired.

Then, T₁−T₀=(a₁₁, a₂₁, a₃₁, a₄₁, a₅₁), T₂−T₀=(a₁₂, a₂₂, a₃₂, a₄₂, a₅₂),T₃−T₀=(a₁₃, a₂₃, a₃₃, a₄₃, a₅₃), T₄−T₀=(a₁₄, a₂₄, a₃₄, a₄₄, a₅₄),T₅−T₀=(a₁₅, a₂₅, a₃₅, a₄₅, a₅₅) are calculated, and a matrix A havingthe calculation results as the columns is obtained. The matrix A is asbelow.

$A = \begin{pmatrix}a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & a_{14} & a_{15} \\a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} & a_{24} & a_{25} \\a_{31} & a_{32} & a_{33} & a_{34} & a_{35} \\a_{41} & a_{42} & a_{43} & a_{44} & a_{45} \\a_{51} & a_{52} & a_{53} & a_{54} & a_{55}\end{pmatrix}$

Then, the following correction function having the matrix A as acoefficient is defined.

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\; Q} = {A\left( {X \cdot x} \right)}} \\{= \begin{pmatrix}{\Delta\; Q_{1}} \\{\Delta\; Q_{2}} \\{\Delta\; Q_{3}} \\{\Delta\; Q_{4}} \\{\Delta\; Q_{5}}\end{pmatrix}} \\{= {\begin{pmatrix}a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & a_{14} & a_{15} \\a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} & a_{24} & a_{25} \\a_{31} & a_{32} & a_{33} & a_{34} & a_{35} \\a_{41} & a_{42} & a_{43} & a_{44} & a_{45} \\a_{51} & a_{52} & a_{53} & a_{54} & a_{55}\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix}{X_{1} - x_{1}} \\{X_{2} - x_{2}} \\{X_{3} - x_{3}} \\{X_{4} - x_{4}} \\{X_{5} - x_{5}}\end{pmatrix}}}\end{matrix}$

In this correction function, X=(X₁, X₂, X₃, X₄, X₅) represents setvalues of the temperature when a treatment is actually performed, x=(x₁,x₂, x₃, x₄, x₅) represents specified values for specifying values intowhich the set values X are to be converted, and ΔQ=(ΔQ₁, ΔQ₂, ΔQ₃, ΔQ₄,ΔQ₅) represents correction amounts.

Next, the first set values are set in the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200, and a heat treatment is performed. During this heattreatment, based on the temperatures sequentially detected respectivelyby the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e in thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, the treatment state valueacquiring portion 203 sequentially acquires treatment temperature valuesat the respective positions of the temperature detecting portions 241 ato 241 e, and calculates average values per batch of the treatmenttemperatures at the positions. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 outputs the first set values to the information processing apparatus100. Furthermore, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, thetreatment output portion 204 outputs the average values of the treatmenttemperatures at the five respective positions detected with thetemperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e, to the state valuereceiving portion 102. This process is repeated for multiple batches.

The set value receiving portion 101 receives set values the from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200.

The state value receiving portion 102 receives the average values perbatch of treatment temperature values at the positions of thetemperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e. The state value receivingportion 102 temporarily stores the acquired average values in a memoryor the like. The average values are state values. FIG. 4 shows theaverage values as a graph. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents thetime, herein, the number of batches, and the vertical axis representsthe average value of the temperatures detected by the temperaturedetecting portion 241 a. For the sake of convenience, this specificationdescribes only treatment temperature values detected by the onetemperature detecting portion 241 a, but the state value receivingportion 102 actually acquires five treatment temperature values for onebatch.

Next, using the above-described correction function, the correctionamounts are calculated. More specifically, the correction amounts ΔQ areobtained by assigning values to X and x in the above-describedcorrection function. As the set value X, the first set values areassigned. As the specified values x, in particular herein, the secondset values are assigned. The thus obtained correction amounts ΔQ are(90, 88, 91, 94, 94).

The thus obtained correction amounts ΔQ are the change amounts, that is,the differences between the ideal treatment temperatures that aredetected by the temperature detecting portions 241 and that arepredicted to be obtained in a case where a heat treatment is performedusing the first set values, and the ideal treatment temperatures thatare detected by the temperature detecting portions 241 and that arepredicted to be obtained in a case where a heat treatment is performedusing the second set values. When converting the set values from thefirst set values to the second set values, it is possible to obtain thetreatment temperatures that are predicted to be obtained in a case wherea heat treatment is performed using the second set values, by correctingthe treatment temperature values obtained using the first set values,with the correction amounts ΔQ.

The state value receiving portion 102 reads out, for each batch, statevalues that are average values of the treatment temperature valuesdetected by the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e. Thecorrecting portion 104 subtracts the correction amounts ΔQ from thestate values, and temporarily stores the obtained values in a memory orthe like. This process is repeated for all batches. For example, thecorrecting portion 104 subtracts ΔQ₁=90 (degrees) from each of statevalues that are average values of the treatment temperature valuesdetected by the temperature detecting portion 241 a.

Next, the second set values are set in the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200, and a heat treatment is performed. During this heattreatment, based on the temperatures sequentially detected respectivelyby the temperature detecting portions 241 a to 241 e in thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, the treatment state valueacquiring portion 203 sequentially acquires treatment temperature valuesat the respective positions of the temperature detecting portions 241 ato 241 e, and calculates average values per batch of the treatmenttemperatures at the positions. State values that are the average valuesof the treatment temperatures at the five respective positions areoutput by the treatment output portion 204 to the state value receivingportion 102. This process is repeated for multiple batches.

The state value receiving portion 102 acquires the state values for eachbath. The acquired state values are temporarily stored in a memory orthe like. Herein, the state values obtained using the first set valuesare to be corrected into the state values that are predicted to beobtained in a case where a treatment is performed using the second setvalues, so that, the state values acquired using the second set valuesare not to be corrected.

The output portion 105 displays the results of correction performed bythe correcting portion 104 on the treatment temperature obtained in acase where a heat treatment is performed using the first set values, andthe treatment temperature obtained in a case where a heat treatment isperformed using the second set values, for example, in the form of agraph, on a display screen 110.

FIG. 5 shows a display example of the output portion 105, and is a graphshowing the results of correction performed by the correcting portion104 on state values of the treatment temperature obtained in a casewhere a heat treatment is performed using the first set values, and thetreatment temperature obtained in a case where a heat treatment isperformed using the second set values. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axisrepresents time, herein, the number of batches, and the vertical axisrepresents the average value of the temperatures detected by thetemperature detecting portion 241 a. For the sake of convenience, thisspecification describes only treatment temperature values detected bythe temperature detecting portion 241 a and values obtained bycorrecting the treatment temperatures, but there are actually fivetreatment temperature values for one batch. The correcting portion 104corrects treatment temperature values obtained in a case where a heattreatment is performed using the first set values, into the treatmenttemperature that is predicted to be obtained in a case where a heattreatment is performed using the second set values, but treatmenttemperature values obtained in a case where a heat treatment isperformed using the second set values are not corrected, because the setvalues are the second set value in the first place.

For example, as in a case where the temperature is controlled at apredetermined position inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 using the temperature estimated based on a temperature model asdescribed in JP 2002-25997A, if the position at which control isperformed according to the set value inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is different from the position at which thetemperature is detected by the temperature detecting portion 241 a, thentypically, the set value and the temperature detected by the temperaturedetecting portion 241 a are not the same temperature, even if idealcontrol is performed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when a temperaturevalue that is predicted to be detected by the temperature detectingportion 241 a in an ideal state in a case where the temperature at thecontrol target position inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus200 is controlled, using the first set value, to match the temperatureset by the set value is taken as Ta, a state value that is a temperaturevalue actually detected by the temperature detecting portion 241 aduring a heat treatment performed using the first set value seems to bein the vicinity of the temperature Ta, taking the temperature Ta asstandard. Furthermore, when a temperature value that is predicted to bedetected by the temperature detecting portion 241 a in an ideal state ina case where the temperature at the control target position inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is controlled, using thesecond set value, to match the temperature set by the set value is takenas Tb, a state value that is a temperature value actually detected bythe temperature detecting portion 241 a during a heat treatmentperformed using the second set value seems to be in the vicinity of thetemperature Tb, taking the temperature Tb as standard. Thus, it ispossible to judge whether or not the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is properly operating, by checking the difference betweenthe measured treatment temperature (state values), and Ta and Tb. Itshould be noted that in FIG. 5, the values Ta, Tb are shown for the sakeof convenience, and it is not possible to judge actual values in FIG. 5.

The above-described correction function can be regarded as a functiondefining the relationship between the change amount of the set value andthe change amount of the state value predicted based on the set value,herein, the change amount of a temperature value detected by thetemperature detecting portions 241. Thus, the correction amountcalculated using the correction function, based on the differencebetween the first set value and the second set value, corresponds to thevalue of Ta-Tb shown in FIG. 5. Thus, when the correcting portion 104performs correction by the correction amount obtained using thecorrection function, the temperature value detected by the temperaturedetecting portion 241 a during a heat treatment performed using thefirst set value is corrected such that the temperature Ta issuperimposed on the temperature Tb. More specifically, the state valuesthat are treatment temperature values obtained when a heat treatment isperformed using two set values, that is, the first set value and thesecond set value are corrected such that the temperatures Ta and Tbserving as their distribution standards are superimposed. Thetemperatures Ta and Tb can be used, for example, as standardtemperatures when judging whether or not the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is properly operating. Thus, when the measurement resultsof the treatment temperature are superimposed such that these standardvalues match each other, it is possible to judge, using the samestandard, whether or not state values acquired in regard to treatmentsperformed using different set values are normal. As a result, it ispossible to monitor as appropriate actually measured values acquired inregard to treatments performed using different set values, that is, themeasurement results of the treatment temperatures. Actually, thesuperimposed temperature Tb cannot be specified in this example, butwhen a value is significantly different from others in the superimposedmeasurement results of the treatment temperature, it is possible tojudge that there is something wrong with a treatment corresponding tothe value or that there is something wrong with the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200, for example.

Herein, for example, a process is conceivable in which the average valueof treatment temperature values detected by the temperature detectingportions 241 during a treatment performed using the first set value iscorrected such that the first set value and the second set value aresuperimposed. More specifically, since the difference between the firstset value and the second set value for the first the zone Za is 100° C.,in order to allow the first set value to match the second set value,100° C. are subtracted from the first set value, and 100° C. are alsosubtracted from the average value of the treatment temperature valuesdetected by the temperature detecting portions 241 during a treatmentperformed using the first set value. FIG. 6 shows a display example in acase where the correcting portion 104 performs this process.

However, both of the first set value and the second set value aredifferent from the temperatures detected by the temperature detectingportions 241 in an ideal state, and thus temperature values detected bythe temperature detecting portions 241 cannot be said to be distributedusing the first set value or the second set value as standard.Therefore, even if the temperature values detected by the temperaturedetecting portions 241, that is, the state values are corrected suchthat the first set value and the second set value are superimposed, thestate values obtained as a result of performing a heat treatment usingthe first set value and the second set value have not been correctedsuch that the standard temperatures in the respective distributions aresuperimposed. As a result, it is not possible to judge, using the samestandard, whether or not state values that are the measurement resultsof the treatment temperature acquired in regard to treatments performedusing different set values are normal. For example, a judgment standard,such as a threshold value, used for judging whether or not state valueobtained using the second set value is proper cannot be used as ajudgment standard for measurement results of the treatment temperatureobtained using the first set value. Thus, it is necessary toindividually judge, based on respective judgment standards, whether ornot the measurement results of the treatment temperature obtained usingthe first set value and the measurement results of the treatmenttemperature obtained using the second set value are normal. Therefore,it is not possible to simultaneously monitor the measurement results ofthe treatment temperature acquired in regard to treatments performedusing different set values.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in a case where state values obtainedat the first set value 700° C. and state values obtained at the secondset value 600° C. are superimposed as described above, the state valuesobtained from the first set value and the second state value aredisplayed in a significantly scattered manner although the state valuesare distributed in the vicinity of the temperatures that are consideredto be ideal for the respective set values, and thus it is difficult tojudge whether or not the state values are normal.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, in a case where correction asdescribed in this embodiment is performed, state values obtained fordifferent set values can be superimposed such that the temperatures thatare considered to be ideal for the respective set values aresuperimposed. As a result, as long as the state values are close tonormal values, all state values can be distributed in the vicinity ofone value, and thus it is easy to judge whether or not the state valuesare normal.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the correction amount,which is the change amount of the state value that is predicted based onthe change amount of the set value, is obtained using the correctionfunction. Then, the state value is corrected using the correctionamount. Thus, state values obtained according to various set values canbe output after the state values are corrected such that ideal statevalues obtained in a case where the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 is caused to perform a desired treatment using therespective set values are superimposed. Accordingly, for example, statevalues obtained according to different set values are displayed in asuperimposed manner, and thus the control charts or the like can beintegrated into one chart, so that the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus and the like can be easily monitored. Furthermore, theoperation for managing the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can besimplified, and thus the operation for monitoring the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus and the like can be easily performed.Furthermore, state values obtained according to different set values canbe displayed in a superimposed manner, and thus the state values can beeasily compared with each other.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiment, the coefficient of thecorrection function is determined based on the state values acquired ina case where the elements of the initial values are sequentiallyincreased by the unit amount. However, in the present invention,steady-state gain of a transfer function of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 also may be used as the coefficient of thecorrection function. Steady-state gain of a transfer function refers tothe ratio of change width of the output, with respect to change width ofthe input in the steady state. Such steady-state gain is necessary forcontrolling an apparatus, and is preset for an apparatus that is to becontrolled, such as the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 inthis embodiment. Thus, the steady-state gain expressed as a matrix maybe used instead of the coefficient A.

For example, when the steady-state gain is taken as A_(g), thecorrection function can be expressed as below.ΔQ=A _(g)(X·x)

When this correction function is used instead of the correctionfunction, effects similar to those described above are achieved.Furthermore, when the steady-state gain of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is used in this manner, the above-describedoperation of obtaining the coefficient of the correction function is notnecessary. Thus, the correction function can be set without causing thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 to perform a desiredtreatment, so that the correction function can be easily set.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the configuration as shown in FIG. 7also may be applied in which: a judging portion 108 is provided betweenthe correcting portion 104 and the output portion 105; a presetthreshold value and a value corrected by the correcting portion 104 arecompared with each other at the judging portion 108; based on thecomparison results, the judging portion 108 instructs the output portion105 to output judgment results indicating whether or not there issomething wrong with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 orits process; and in response to this instruction, the output portion 105outputs, as appropriate, information indicating that there is somethingwrong with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or its process.It should be noted that the number of such threshold values may be oneor multiple. For example, the upper limit threshold value and the lowerlimit threshold value prescribing the range in which the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus is properly operating may be provided.

FIG. 8 shows a case in which the treatment temperatures that are thestate values obtained during treatments performed using the first setvalue and the second set value described in the foregoing example areoutput without any processing such as correction by the correctionamount obtained using the correction function.

In a case where as shown in FIG. 8, the treatment temperatures that arethe state values are not superimposed without performing correction bythe correction amount, for example, the lower limit threshold value andthe upper limit threshold value for judging that the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is properly operating are respectively Th₁₁and Th₁₂ for the treatment temperature corresponding to the first setvalue, and Th₂₁ and Th₂₂ for the treatment temperature corresponding tothe second set value.

In this embodiment, in particular, the state values acquired duringtreatments performed using different set values are corrected by thecorrection amount obtained, using the correction function, such that thestate values in an ideal state serving as the distribution standards ofthe respective values are superimposed. Typically, threshold values andthe like are used for setting a boundary of values that are judged to beabnormal, using the state values in the most ideal state as standard.Thus, when the state values are corrected such that the standard valuesare superimposed, that is, when the state values are corrected such thatTa and Tb are superimposed, the threshold values used in the comparisoncan be used in common. Accordingly, the threshold values set for thestate value acquired during a treatment performed using one set valuecan be used also for other set values.

For example, in a case where as shown in FIG. 9, the treatmenttemperatures that are the state values are superimposed by performingcorrection by the correction amount, if the threshold values Th₂₁ andTh₂₂ have been set, for the treatment temperature corresponding to thesecond set value, as the threshold values for judging that thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is properly operating, thenthe threshold values Th₂₁ and Th₂₂ can be used without any processing,also for values obtained when the correcting portion 104 corrects thetreatment temperature corresponding to the first set value.

Thus, in this embodiment, the threshold values set for treatmentsperformed using different set values can be used in common, and thus aneffort and time for setting the threshold values can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in which theset value is a set value for temperature and in which the state value isa temperature value detected by the temperature detecting portions.However, the present invention can be applied also to other set valuesor state values. For example, the present invention can be applied alsoto a case where the set value is a set value for temperature and wherethe state value is a power value of the heaters 231 acquired by thetreatment state value acquiring portion 203.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in which thespecified value that is to be assigned to the correction function is thesecond set value. However, the specified value also may be a value otherthan the second set value. In this case, it is necessary for thecorrecting portion 104 to correct also the state value obtained in atreatment performed using the second set value, by the correction amountobtained using the correction function.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in whichtemperature values detected by the temperature detecting portions 241 intreatments performed using two set values are superimposed. However, thepresent invention can be applied also to a case in which temperaturevalues detected by the temperature detecting portions 241 in treatmentsperformed using three or more set values are superimposed.

More specifically, it is possible to apply a configuration in which: theset value receiving portion 101 receives multiple set values; the statevalue receiving portion 102 receives multiple state values respectivelycorresponding to the multiple set values; the correction amountcalculating portion 103 calculates multiple correction amountsrespectively corresponding to the multiple state values, using thecorrection function; the correcting portion 104 corrects the multiplestate values respectively corresponding to the multiple correctionamount, by the multiple correction amounts calculated by the correctionamount calculating portion 103; and the output portion 105 outputs themultiple state values corrected by the correcting portion.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of asemiconductor manufacturing system in this embodiment. The semiconductormanufacturing system is provided with an information processingapparatus 300 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200.

The configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is asin Embodiment 1 above, and therefore a description thereof is omitted.

The information processing apparatus 300 is provided with the set valuereceiving portion 101, the state value receiving portion 102, thecorrection amount calculating portion 103, the correcting portion 104,the output portion 105, a correction function generating portion 301,and a function generating information storage portion 302.

The configuration of the set value receiving portion 101, the statevalue receiving portion 102, the correction amount calculating portion103, the correcting portion 104, and the output portion 105 is as inEmbodiment 1 above, and therefore a description thereof is omitted.However, in this embodiment, the correction amount calculating portion103 calculates the correction amount corresponding to the set valuereceived by the set value receiving portion 101, using a correctionfunction that is generated by the correction function generating portion301 and that indicates the relationship between the set value receivedby the set value receiving portion 101 and the correction amount, whichis a state value predicted based on the set value.

The correction function generating portion 301 generates a correctionfunction, using multiple groups of the set value and the state valuecorresponding to the set value. More specifically, the correctionfunction is a function indicating the relationship between the setvalues and the correction amounts that are state values predicted basedon the set values. The predicted state values specifically refer tostate values that are predicted to be ideally acquired according to theset values. The correction function is a function obtained usingmultiple groups of the set value and the state value corresponding tothe set value, more specifically, an approximation formula. Thecorrection function generating portion 301 obtains a correction functionthat is an approximation formula indicating the relationship between theset values and the correction amounts, based on multiple groups of theset value and the state value corresponding to the set value. Theapproximation formula generated by the correction function generatingportion 301 may be any approximation formula, such as an equation of rthdegree (r is an integer of 1 or more), an exponential function, or alogarithmic function. Furthermore, the correction function generatingportion 301 may use any algorithm and the like to generate theapproximation formula. The process or configuration for generating theapproximation formula and the like based on multiple groups ofinformation is a known art, and therefore a description thereof isomitted. The multiple groups of the set value and the state valuecorresponding to the set value, the groups being used by the correctionfunction generating portion 301 for generating the correction function,may be prepared for generating the correction function, or may be statevalues that are to be actually corrected by the correction amount andset values for obtaining the state values. Herein, a case is describedin which the correction function generating portion 301 generates acorrection function, using function generating information that ismultiple groups of the set value and the state value corresponding tothe set value stored in the function generating information storageportion 302. The correction function generating portion 301 can betypically implemented as an MPU or a memory, for example. Typically, theprocess procedure of the correction function generating portion 301 isimplemented by software, and the software is stored in a storage mediumsuch as a ROM. Note that the process procedure also may be implementedby hardware (dedicated circuit).

It should be noted that the configuration also may be applied in which:a correction function storage portion as in Embodiment 1 above isprovided; correction functions set by the user and correction functiongenerated by other apparatuses are accumulated in the correctionfunction storage portion, instead of the correction function generatedby the correction function generating portion 301; and the correctionfunctions are read out and used by the correction amount calculatingportion 103.

The multiple groups of the set value and the state value correspondingto the set value can be stored in the function generating informationstorage portion 302. The groups may be stored in advance, or the setvalues received by the set value receiving portion 101 and the statevalues acquired by the state value receiving portion 102 may beaccumulated. Groups of the set value and the state value may be storedin the function generating information storage portion 302 before thecorrection amount calculating portion 103 performs the first process.Alternatively, groups of the set value received by the set valuereceiving portion 101 and the state value acquired by the state valuereceiving portion 102 may be sequentially added to the functiongenerating information storage portion 302. In this case, each time theinformation is added, the correction function generating portion 301 maygenerate a correction function again and replace its previous correctionfunction with this correction function. Typically, the functiongenerating information storage portion 302 is preferably a non-volatilestorage medium, but also can be implemented as a volatile storagemedium.

Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 300 isdescribed with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 11. In FIG. 11, thesame reference numerals as in FIG. 2 indicate the same or correspondingstep. Herein, for the sake of convenience, a case is described in whicha set value set for performing a desired treatment, and multiple statevalues acquired at different times in a case where the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is caused to perform the desired treatmentaccording to this set value, are output by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 or the like to the information processingapparatus 100. Herein, it is assumed that each of the multiple statevalues is associated with information of the time when that state valueis acquired. Furthermore, herein, it is assumed that multiple groups ofthe set value and the state values acquired in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is caused to perform a desiredtreatment according to those set values are accumulated in advance inthe function generating information storage portion 302, for example.

(step S1101) The set value receiving portion 101 receives a set valuethat is output by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or thelike. The received set value is accumulated in a storage medium such asa memory (not shown). It should be noted that the set value may beaccumulated in the function generating information storage portion 302.

(step S1102) The state value receiving portion 102 receives multiplestate values that are output by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 or the like. The received state values are accumulated ina storage medium such as a memory (not shown). It should be noted thatthe state values may be accumulated in the function generatinginformation storage portion 302.

(step S1103) The correction function generating portion 301 reads outmultiple groups of the set value and the state values corresponding tothe set value from the function generating information storage portion302, and generates a correction function. More specifically, anapproximation formula between the set values and acquired values isgenerated.

(step S1104) The correction amount calculating portion 103 calculates acorrection amount corresponding to the set value received in step S1101,by assigning the set value to the correction function generated in stepS1103.

In the description above, a case is described in which a process such ascorrection is performed on state values obtained as a result ofperforming a treatment using one set value. However, in a case where atreatment is performed while changing the set value from batch to batch,for example, a process such as correction may be performed on statevalues respectively obtained for the different set values. For example,in a case where multiple set values can be received in step S1101 andwhere state values corresponding to the multiple set values can bereceived in step S1102, after the process has been performed on one setvalue following the above-described flowchart, it may be judged whetheror not there is another set value. If there is another set value, thenthe procedure returns to, for example, step S207, where a process suchas correction is repeatedly performed on a state value obtained foranother set value as in the above-described flowchart.

In the flowchart in FIG. 11, the process is ended by turning off poweror a processing-ending interruption.

Next, a method for acquiring the above-described correction function isdescribed.

First, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 is caused toperform a treatment for multiple times, for each of two or more setvalues. The obtained multiple state values are plotted on a graph inwhich the x-axis represents the set value and the y-axis represents thestate value, as shown in FIG. 12. Herein, for the sake of convenience, acase is described in which one state value is acquired for one set valuefrom the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200, that is, a case inwhich the set value and the state value are in the form of a 1×1 matrix.However, the set value and the state value may be in the form of amatrix each having multiple elements.

Next, the function y=f(x) is obtained based on the set value and thestate value. Herein, it is assumed that the approximation formula isy=ax+b, for example. There is no limitation on the manner in which theapproximation formula is obtained.

The thus obtained approximation formula can be regarded as a functionindicating the relationship between the set value and the ideal statevalue. Therefore, a state value that is considered to be ideal for a setvalue can be obtained by assigning the set value to x in theapproximation formula.

In this embodiment, the state value obtained from the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is expressed as a difference with respect toan ideal state value, by subtracting the value y from the state value,the state value being obtained as a result of performing a treatmentwith the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 using a particularset value, and the value y being obtained by assigning a set value thatis the same as the above-described set value to x in the approximationformula. With this process, state values obtained for different setvalues can be expressed as a difference with respect to an ideal statevalue predicted based on each set value, by using the approximationformula. As described in Embodiment 1, it is difficult to compare statevalues obtained based on different set values, because their set valuesand ideal state values obtained therefrom are different from each other.However, in this embodiment, state values obtained based on differentset values are corrected into a difference with respect to an idealstate value for each set value, and thus it is possible to compare statevalues obtained based on different set values, using an ideal statevalue for each set value as standard.

Hereinafter, the specific operation of the semiconductor manufacturingsystem in this embodiment is described. The conceptual diagram of thesemiconductor manufacturing system is the same as FIG. 3, except thatthe information processing apparatus 300 is implemented by the computer10. Herein, for example, it is assumed that the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is a heat treatment apparatus. For the sakeof convenience, a case is described in which the set temperature for thesemiconductor wafers in the zone Za inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 is taken as the set value and in which theoutput of the heater 231 a is taken as the state value. It should benoted that the set value and the state value used herein are valuesprepared for explanation, and are different from an actual set value ora state value obtained when performing a treatment according to the setvalue. Herein, an example is described in which electric power values ofthe heater 231 a that are obtained in a case where the temperature of aheat treatment is set to 600° C. and 700° C. are compared with eachother. Furthermore, a case is described in which the state values thatare to be corrected and the corresponding set value are used forgenerating a correction function. More specifically, a case is describedin which the set values received by the set value receiving portion 101and the state values received by the state value receiving portion 102are accumulated in the function generating information storage portion302.

First, the set value, herein, the set temperature is set to 600° C., andthe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 performs a heat treatment.The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 outputs this set value tothe set value receiving portion 101. The state value receiving portion102 accumulates the set value in the function generating informationstorage portion 302. Furthermore, in the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200, the electric power of the heater 231 a in a period duringwhich the treatment temperature is stable is acquired by the treatmentstate value acquiring portion 203 at a predetermined timing, and theacquired electric power value is output by the treatment output portion204 to the information processing apparatus 300. The state valuereceiving portion 102 in the information processing apparatus 300temporarily accumulates the electric power value in a memory or the like(not shown), and calculates the average value for each batch. Theacquired average value of the electric powers herein is a state value.The state value receiving portion 102 accumulates the state value inassociation with the set temperature, in the function generatinginformation storage portion 302. This process is repeated for multiplebatches.

Next, the set value is set to 700° C., and a heat treatment is performedfor multiple batches in a similar manner. The acquired average value ofthe electric powers is accumulated in association with the settemperature, in the function generating information storage portion 302.

FIG. 13 shows the power value of the heater 231 a stored in the functiongenerating information storage portion 302, as a graph in which thex-axis represents the processing time, herein, the number of batches,and the y-axis represents the power value (W) of the heater 231 a.

FIG. 14 shows the set temperature and the electric power of the heater231 a stored in the function generating information storage portion 302,as a graph in which the x-axis represents the set temperature and they-axis represents the power value of the heater 231 a.

Next, the correction function generating portion 301 calculates theapproximation formula indicating the relationship between the settemperature and the electric power as shown in FIG. 14, using the settemperature and the electric power of the heater 231 a stored in thefunction generating information storage portion 302. Herein, it isassumed that the obtained approximation formula is y=ax+b. Theapproximation formula is as shown in FIG. 13, for example.

Next, the correction amount calculating portion 103 obtains thecorrection amount y, by assigning the set value 600 to x in theapproximation formula calculated by the correction function generatingportion 301. This correction amount is taken as y₆₀₀.

The correcting portion 104 performs correction in which y₆₀₀ issubtracted from each electric power value that is accumulated in thefunction generating information storage portion 302 and that is obtainedin a case where the set value is set to 600° C. The results of thissubtraction is temporarily stored in a memory or the like (not shown).

In a similar manner, the correction amount calculating portion 103acquires the correction amount y₇₀₀, by assigning the set value 700 to xin the approximation formula calculated by the correction functiongenerating portion 301.

The correcting portion 104 performs correction in which y₇₀₀ issubtracted from each electric power value that is accumulated in thefunction generating information storage portion 302 and that is obtainedin a case where the set value is set to 700° C. The results of thissubtraction is temporarily stored in a memory or the like (not shown).

The output portion 105 displays the results of the correction performedby the correcting portion 104, for example, in a graph as shown in FIG.15. It should be noted that on the graph, the x-axis represents theprocessing time, and the y-axis represents the electric power of theheater 231 a. Herein, y=0 corresponds to y₆₀₀ and y₇₀₀.

In this embodiment, first, the approximation formula is obtained basedon the electric power values of the heater 231 a obtained as a result ofperforming a heat treatment with the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 at set temperatures of 600° C. and 700° C. Then, y₆₀₀ andy₇₀₀, which are the values of y obtained by assigning the settemperatures that are the same as the set temperatures, that is, 600° C.and 700° C., to x in the approximation formula are subtracted from theelectric power values of the heater 231 a obtained as a result ofperforming a heat treatment with the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 at set temperatures of 600° C. and 700° C., and thus theelectric power values of the heater 231 a that are the state valuesobtained from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 areexpressed as values corrected using ideal electric power values of theheater 231 a. With this process, electric power values of the heater 231a obtained for different set temperatures can be expressed as adifference with respect to ideal electric power of the heater 231 a foreach set temperature. As a result, in this embodiment, electric powervalues obtained based on different set temperatures are corrected into adifference can be corrected into a difference with respect to idealelectric power of the heater 231 a for each set temperature, and thus itis possible to compare power values obtained based on different settemperatures, using an ideal electric power for each set temperature asstandard.

Instead of using the correction function generated by the correctionfunction generating portion 301 based on the state values as describedabove, it is also possible to use a correction function that has beengenerated in advance using a similar method as described above, base onresults of a heat treatment performed by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 using two or more set temperatures.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the correction amountsthat are state values predicted based on the set values are obtainedusing the correction function, and the state values are corrected, usingthe correction amounts. Thus, state values obtained according to variousset values can be output after the state values are corrected into adifference with respect to each ideal state value. Accordingly, forexample, state values obtained according to different set values aredisplayed in a superimposed manner, and thus the control charts or thelike can be integrated into one chart, so that the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 200 and the like can be easily monitored.Furthermore, the operation for managing the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200 can be simplified, and thus the operation for monitoringthe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 and the like can be easilyperformed. Furthermore, state values obtained according to different setvalues can be displayed in a superimposed manner, and thus the statevalues can be easily compared with each other.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the configuration as shown in FIG. 7 inEmbodiment 1 also may be applied in which: the judging portion 108 isprovided between the correcting portion 104 and the output portion 105;a preset threshold value and a value corrected by the correcting portion104 are compared with each other at the judging portion 108; based onthe comparison results, the judging portion 108 instructs the outputportion 105 to output judgment results indicating whether or not thereis something wrong with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 orits process; and in response to this instruction, the output portion 105outputs, as appropriate, information indicating that there is somethingwrong with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 200 or its process.It should be noted that the number of such threshold values may be oneor multiple. For example, the upper limit threshold value and the lowerlimit threshold value prescribing the range in which the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus is properly operating may be provided.

In this case, as described in Embodiment 1, threshold values set fordifferent set values can be used in common. Accordingly, the thresholdvalues set for the state value acquired during a treatment performedusing one set value can be used also for other set values. Thus, in thisembodiment, the threshold values set for treatments performed usingdifferent set values can be used in common, and thus an effort and timefor setting the threshold values can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in which theset value is a set value for temperature and in which the state value isa electric power value of heaters. However, the present invention can beapplied also to other set values or state values.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in whichelectric power values of heaters in treatments performed using two setvalues are superimposed. However, the present invention can be appliedalso to a case in which electric power values of heaters in treatmentsperformed using three or more set values are superimposed.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the state values may be corrected as inEmbodiment 1, using, as the correction coefficient in Embodiment 1, thecoefficient of the correction function generated using two or more setvalues and multiple state values obtained in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus is caused to perform apredetermined treatment for multiple times using each set value, forexample, a of y=ax+b in the above-described case.

For example, in the foregoing example, the difference between 700° C.and 600° C. is 100° C., and thus the value 100×a taken as the correctionamount may be subtracted from the electric power values that are statevalues obtained at the set value 700° C., so that the electric powervalues that are state values obtained at the set value 600° C. and theelectric power values that are state values obtained at the set value700° C. can be compared with each other.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, the information processingapparatus 100 or the information processing apparatus 300 may be used asa single apparatus by separating it from the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 200.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a semiconductormanufacturing system in this embodiment. The semiconductor manufacturingsystem is provided with an information processing apparatus 500 and asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. The semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 performs treatments on a treatment targetcontaining a semiconductor. Herein, an example is described in which thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is a heat treatment apparatusfor performing treatments including a heat treatment and in which atreatment target is a semiconductor wafer. However, a treatmentperformed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 on atreatment target containing a semiconductor may be any treatment. Morespecifically, the configuration of the present invention can be appliedalso to a case where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is ina form other than a heat treatment apparatus, or a case where thetreatment target is a material containing a semiconductor, other than asemiconductor wafer, such as a semiconductor chip. Herein, theinformation processing apparatus 500 and the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 are connected to each other such that information can beexchanged, for example, via a network such as the Internet or LAN, or adedicated signal line.

The information processing apparatus 500 is provided with a state valuereceiving portion 501, a standard value storage portion 502, a thresholdvalue storage portion 503, a calculating portion 504, and an outputportion 505.

The state value receiving portion 501 receives a state value, which is avalue acquired in regard to a state during a treatment of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. The term “receive” refers toan operation of acquiring or receiving the input, for example. “Statevalue” herein refers to a value acquired when the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 is performing a desired treatment. “Valueacquired in regard to a state during a treatment” may be any value, aslong as it can be acquired and can indicate a state during a treatmentof the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. Specific examplesthereof include a measured value that is acquired during a treatment,from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 itself or theinternal environment of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, acalculated value that is calculated using this measured value, and avalue that is internally controlled during a treatment by thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. Furthermore, it is alsopossible to use a value obtained by statistically processing a measuredvalue or the like. Examples of the state value include a measured valueof the temperature inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600during a treatment, more specifically, a value obtained by measuring thetemperature at a desired position inside a treatment vessel 611 using atemperature sensor or the like, a value obtained by measuring thetreatment pressure (air pressure) using a pressure detecting portion 617or the like, a power value of a heater for heating the internal portionof the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 measured by awattmeter, and an average value, a maximum value, a minimum value, and astandard deviation of the measured values. Furthermore, the state valuemay be a power value of an internal heater calculated based on, forexample, voltage or current supplied during a treatment from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus to the heater. The state valuereceived by the state value receiving portion 501 may be multiple statevalues in different measurement units. The measurement unit hereinrefers to, for example, the unit or zero point of the state value.Examples of the multiple state values in different measurement unitsinclude a measured value of the temperature inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600, a power value of a heater for heating theinternal portion of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, and ameasured value of the pressure (air pressure) inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600. There is no limitation on the manner inwhich the state value receiving portion 501 receives the state value.For example, the state value receiving portion 501 may receive the statevalue that transmitted from another device or the like via acommunication line, or may read out the state value that is stored in astorage medium or the like. Furthermore, the state value receivingportion 501 may receive the state value that is input from an input unitsuch as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menu screen. Thestate value receiving portion 501 may cause the received state value tobe accumulated in a memory or the like (not shown). The state valuereceiving portion 501 can be implemented by a device driver of an inputunit such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menuscreen, a driver of a communication device, or a driver of a device forreading out information from a storage medium, such as a memory cardreader or a CD drive, for example.

A standard value, which is a value serving as standard for the statevalues, can be stored in the standard value storage portion 502. Thevalue serving as standard for the state values may be any value, as longas it can be used as standard when the state values are compared witheach other. Examples of the standard value include a targeted value,which serves as a target in control of the state values. The standardvalue may be a set value for setting a value that is used when thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is controlled and that servesas a target in control of the state value, an actually measured value ofthe state value obtained in a case where the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 is properly controlled according to desired settings, oran average value of the actually measured values. Furthermore, thestandard value may be an average value, a minimum value, or a maximumvalue of two or more state values obtained in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is caused to perform a desiredtreatment according to desired settings, for example.

The standard value storage portion 502 is preferably a non-volatilestorage medium, but also can be implemented as a volatile storagemedium.

A threshold value, which is a value used for judging whether or not thestate value is a desired value, can be stored in the threshold valuestorage portion 503. “Desired value” is, for example, a value indicatingthat the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is properly operatingor that there is something wrong therewith, or that a desired treatmenthas been properly performed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus600 or that the desired treatment has not been properly performed.Specific examples of the threshold value include the upper limit valueand the lower limit value indicating the range in which the state valueis a desired value. Furthermore, the threshold value storage portion 503may have a threshold value serving as the upper limit value and athreshold value serving as the lower limit value. Typically, thethreshold values are respectively set for state values in differentmeasurement units. Furthermore, the threshold values are set accordingto a treatment condition of a treatment performed by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600. “Judgment whether or not the state value isa desired value” refers to, for example, judgment whether or not thestate value is equal to or larger than the threshold value, judgmentwhether or not the state value is smaller than the threshold value, orjudgment whether or not the state value is in a range defined by twothreshold values. With this judgment, more specifically, it is possibleto judge, based on the state value, whether or not the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 is properly operating, or whether or not adesired treatment has been properly performed. The threshold value isset in advance according to the design of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600, experiments or simulations using thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, or the like, and isaccumulated in the threshold value storage portion 503. In a case wherethreshold values serving as the upper limit value and the lower limitvalue are provided, typically, the standard value is set to be a valuetherebetween. The threshold value storage portion 503 is preferably anon-volatile storage medium, but also can be implemented as a volatilestorage medium.

The calculating portion 504 calculates the ratio between a valuerelating to the difference between the state value received by the statevalue receiving portion 501 and the standard value, and a value relatingto the difference between the threshold value and the standard value.Herein, the calculating portion 504 reads out the standard value from astandard value storage portion 502 and the threshold value from athreshold value storage portion 503 and uses these values asappropriate. “Value relating to the difference between the state valueand the standard value” typically refers to the difference between thestate value and the standard value, but also may be an absolute value ofthis difference. Furthermore, as long as the finally obtained value ofthe ratio does not change, the value relating to the difference betweenthe state value and the standard value may be a value obtained byperforming predetermined calculation, such as multiplication by apredetermined value, on the difference between the state value and thestandard value. Furthermore, fine control also may be performed on thedifference between the state value and the standard value, for example,by adding a predetermined value thereto, if necessary. “Value relatingto the difference between the threshold value and the standard value”typically refers to the difference between the threshold value and thestandard value, but also may be an absolute value of this difference.Furthermore, as long as the finally obtained value of the ratio does notchange, the value relating to the difference between the threshold valueand the standard value may be a value obtained by performingpredetermined calculation, such as multiplication by a predeterminedvalue, on the difference between the threshold value and the standardvalue. Furthermore, fine control also may be performed on the differencebetween the threshold value and the standard value, for example, byadding a predetermined value thereto, if necessary. If the state valuesreceived by the state value receiving portion 501 are multiple statevalues in different measurement units, then the calculating portion 504calculates, for each of the multiple state values in differentmeasurement units, the ratio between a value relating to the differencebetween the state value received by the state value receiving portionand a standard value corresponding to the state value, and a valuerelating to the difference between a threshold value corresponding tothe state value and the standard value. When the ratio described hereinis taken as R, the ratio R is specifically defined by the followingequation.

$\begin{matrix}{R = \frac{\left( {{{state}\mspace{14mu}{value}} - {{standard}\mspace{14mu}{value}}} \right)}{{{{threshold}\mspace{14mu}{value}} - {{standard}\mspace{14mu}{value}}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{25mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

It should be noted that this ratio also may be expressed in percentagesor the like, if necessary. Furthermore, when the ratio R is always setto be a positive value, for example, when the magnitude of the ratio isto be obtained, Equation 2 below in which the absolute value of thedenominator in Equation 1 is omitted may be used.

$\begin{matrix}{R = \frac{\left( {{{state}\mspace{14mu}{value}} - {{standard}\mspace{14mu}{value}}} \right)}{{{{threshold}\mspace{14mu}{value}} - {{standard}\mspace{14mu}{value}}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

In a case where two threshold values are provided, for example, in acase where two threshold values for setting the upper limit value andthe lower limit value for setting a desired range are provided, thecalculating portion 504 acquires, from the threshold value storageportion 503, a threshold value that is a value in a subrange to whichthe state value belongs, of a possible range of the state value that isdivided into two subranges by the standard value, and uses thisthreshold value for calculating the above-described ratio. Morespecifically, if the state value is larger than the standard value, thenthe threshold value that is larger than the standard value is read outfrom the threshold value storage portion 503, and the difference betweenthis threshold value and the standard value is used for calculating theabove-described ratio. If the state value is smaller than the standardvalue, then the threshold value that is smaller than the standard valueis read out from the threshold value storage portion 503, and thedifference between this threshold value and the standard value is usedfor calculating the above-described ratio. If the state value is thesame as the standard value, then either of the threshold values may beused. The calculating portion 504 can be typically implemented as an MPUor a memory, for example. Typically, the process procedure of thecalculating portion 504 is implemented by software, and the software isstored in a storage medium such as a ROM. Note that the processprocedure also may be implemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The output portion 505 outputs a ratio calculated by the calculatingportion 504. In a case where the state values received by the statevalue receiving portion 501 are multiple state values in differentmeasurement units, the output portion 505 outputs multiple ratioscalculated by the calculating portion 504 respectively for the statevalues in different measurement units. Herein, the term “output” is aconcept that includes displaying on a display screen, printing on paperor the like using a printer, transmission to an external apparatus, andtemporarily storing in a storage medium such as a memory. For example,the output portion 505 displays the ratio calculated by the calculatingportion 504, on a graph on a display screen or the like. Furthermore,ratios calculated using multiple state values in different measurementunits may be displayed in a superimposed manner on a graph. The outputportion 505 may or may not include an output device such as a displayscreen or a printer. The output portion 505 can be implemented by driversoftware for an output device, or a combination of driver software foran output device and the output device, for example.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is provided with thetreatment vessel 611. The treatment vessel 611 is also referred to as areactor vessel or a reaction furnace, for example. In the treatmentvessel 611, a semiconductor wafer 650 serving as the treatment target iscontained and undergoes a predetermined heat treatment such as a CVD(chemical vapor deposition) process. The treatment vessel 611 is made ofa heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant material such as quartz glass.The treatment vessel 611 has a single tube structure in which the upperend and lower end are opened. The upper end is narrowed to a smalldiameter and forms an exhaust portion 612. The exhaust portion 612 isconnected via a pressure regulating portion 616 to a vacuum pump (notshown), for example. The pressure regulating portion 616 has, forexample, a valve for regulating pressure, and regulates the pressureinside the treatment vessel 611 by driving the valve to open and closethe valve, in accordance with the control performed by a control portion601 (described later). Furthermore, the treatment vessel 611 includesthe pressure detecting portion 617 for detecting pressure (air pressure)inside the treatment vessel 611. The pressure detecting portion 617detects pressure, and outputs an electric signal corresponding to thedetected pressure. The pressure detecting portion 617 is specifically apressure sensor, and may have any structure, as long as the pressure canbe detected thereby.

A gas introducing portion 613 for introducing treatment gas or inert gasinto the treatment vessel 611 is disposed in the lower portion of thetreatment vessel 611. Multiple gas-supplying pipes 614 communicated witha gas source are inserted into the gas introducing portion 613.Treatment gas introduced from the gas introducing portion 613 risesthrough the treatment vessel 611, is supplied to a predetermined heattreatment on the semiconductor wafer 650, and then is exhausted from theexhaust portion 612. The pipes 614 are provided with a gas flow ratedetecting portion 618 for detecting the flow rate of gas introduced fromthe gas introducing portion 613 into the treatment vessel 611. As thegas flow rate detecting portion 618, it is possible to use a mass flowcontroller provided in order to control the gas flow rate in commonlyused semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses. Typically, the mass flowcontroller can detect the gas flow rate, and output the detectedmeasured value or the like.

A flange-shaped lower end portion 615 of the treatment vessel 611 isopened and closed by a cover 621 made of a heat-resistant andcorrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel. The cover 621 isvertically moved by a lift (not shown), thereby tightly closing thelower end portion 615 of the treatment vessel 611 at the liftedposition, and opening the lower end portion 615 of the treatment vessel611 at the lowered position.

An O-ring 622 for securing air tightness is disposed between the lowerend portion 615 and the cover 621 of the treatment vessel 611.

A rotating support post 623 is rotatably provided upright at a centralportion of the cover 621, and a rotating table 664 is secured to theupper end of the rotating support post 623.

Furthermore, a driving portion 665 for driving to rotate the rotatingsupport post 623 is provided below the cover 621.

On the rotating table 664, a boat 626 made of quartz glass (so-calledsemiconductor wafer boat) in which, for example, 60 semiconductor wafers650 can be mounted at a predetermined interval in the height directionis placed. The boat 626 is placed on the rotating table 664 in a statewhere the cover 621 has been lowered, is completely loaded into thetreatment vessel 611 when the cover 621 is lifted to tightly close thelower end portion 615 of the treatment vessel 611, and is unloaded asthe cover 621 is lowered after the treatment has been completed.Furthermore, during a process, the boat 626 rotates as the rotatingtable 664 is rotated by the driving portion 665, and thus a uniform heattreatment is performed on the semiconductor wafers 650.

The treatment vessel 611 is surrounded by a heating furnace 630 providedwith one or more heaters 631, which are heating units for heating thesemiconductor wafers 650 contained in the treatment vessel 611, from theperipheral portion of the semiconductor wafers 650. The heaters 631 arearranged along the periphery of the treatment vessel 611. The heaters631 have resistance heat generating members, and generate heat whenelectric power is supplied, for example. As the resistance heatgenerating members, it is preferable to use a carbon wire or the likethat is excellent in temperature rising and falling properties. However,there is no limitation on the structure or the like of the heaters 631.Herein, an example is shown in which the one or more heaters 631 areconstituted by three heaters 631 a to 631 c, but there is no limitationon the number of the heaters. The heaters 631 a to 631 c are arrangedalong the direction in which the semiconductor wafers 650 are aligned.However, there is no limitation on the points at which the heaters 631 ato 631 c are arranged.

One or more temperature detecting portions 641 are provided along theouter circumferential face of the treatment vessel 611. Herein, anexample is described in which the one or more temperature detectingportions 641 are constituted by three temperature detecting portions 641a to 641 c, but there is no limitation on the number of the temperaturedetecting portions 641. Herein, the three temperature detecting portions641 a to 641 c are arranged in one row in the vertical direction, butthere is no limitation on the points at which the temperature detectingportions 641 are arranged. The temperature detecting portions 641 a to641 c detect temperature, and output an electric signal corresponding tothe detected temperature. The temperature detecting portions 641 a to641 c are specifically temperature sensors, and may have any structuresuch as a thermocouple, as long as the temperature can be detectedthereby. It should be noted that there is no limitation on thearrangement of the temperature detecting portions 641 a to 641 c. Asdescribed later, the output of the temperature detecting portions 641 ato 641 c is used for predicting the surface temperature of thesemiconductor wafers 650 that are arranged in the boat 626.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is further provided withthe control portion 601, a treatment state value acquiring portion 602,and a treatment output portion 603.

The control portion 601 controls various operations of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 according to, for example, a preset setvalue for setting a condition of a treatment on a treatment target. Forexample, in a case where the treatment temperature has been set, thecontrol portion 601 performs control such that the temperature insidethe treatment vessel 611 matches the temperature set by the set value,by performing so-called feedback control on the output of the heaters631 according to the temperature detected by the one or more temperaturedetecting portions 641. Furthermore, the control portion 601 performscontrol such that the pressure inside the treatment vessel 611 matchesthe pressure set by the set value, by performing so-called feedbackcontrol on the pressure regulating portion 616 according to the pressuredetected by the pressure detecting portion 617. For example, suchcontrol may be performed taking the standard value stored in thestandard value storage portion 502 described above, as the targetedvalue for control. The control portion 601 performs control of theentire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 other than the above,such as control of gas flow rate, control of opening/closing of a valve,and control of the boat lift, but such control is a known art, andtherefore a description thereof is omitted. The control portion 601 canbe typically implemented as an MPU or a memory, for example. Typically,the process procedure of the control portion 601 is implemented bysoftware, and the software is stored in a storage medium such as a ROM.Note that the process procedure also may be implemented by hardware(dedicated circuit).

The treatment state value acquiring portion 602 acquires a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment of thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. Typically, this state valueis the same as the above-described state value received by the statevalue receiving portion 501. Examples of the state value includetemperature values detected by the temperature detecting portions 641,that is, measured values of temperature, and power values of the heaters631. For example, in a state where a predetermined treatment isperformed on a treatment target, based on a signal that is output as aresult of detecting the temperature with the temperature detectingportions 641, the treatment state value acquiring portion 602 acquiresthe state value that is a temperature value corresponding to thatsignal. The state value also may be a pressure value detected by thepressure detecting portion 617, that is, a measured value of pressure.Furthermore, the treatment state value acquiring portion 602 may acquirethe state vale that is a power value of the heaters 631 controlled bythe control portion 601, or may acquire the state value that is a powervalue of the heaters 631 based on a power value detected by a wattmeter(not shown). Herein, a case is described in which the output of thetemperature detecting portions 641 is once input to the control portion601, and the output of the temperature detecting portions 641 is outputfrom the control portion 601 to the treatment state value acquiringportion 602. However, the output of the temperature detecting portions641 may be directly received by the treatment state value acquiringportion 602. Furthermore, in this case, the input received by thetreatment state value acquiring portion 602 may be output by thetreatment state value acquiring portion 602 as appropriate to thecontrol portion 601. The treatment state value acquiring portion 602 canbe typically implemented as an MPU or a memory, for example. Typically,the process procedure of the treatment state value acquiring portion 602is implemented by software, and the software is stored in a storagemedium such as a ROM. Note that the process procedure also may beimplemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The treatment output portion 603 outputs the state value acquired by thetreatment state value acquiring portion 602. Herein, an example isdescribed in which the treatment output portion 603 transmits the statevalue acquired by the treatment state value acquiring portion 602, tothe state value receiving portion 501 in the information processingapparatus 500. There is no limitation on a timing, trigger, or the likefor outputting the state value from the treatment output portion 603 tothe state value receiving portion 501. For example, the treatment outputportion 603 may output a state value every time the treatment statevalue acquiring portion 602 acquires a value relating to a state duringa treatment, or may output multiple values after the multiple values aretemporarily accumulated in a storage medium such as a memory.Alternatively, the treatment output portion 603 may output a statevalue, on receiving an instruction to output the state value from theinformation processing apparatus 500. Herein, the term “output” is aconcept that includes transmission to an external apparatus, andaccumulation in a storage medium such as a memory. The treatment outputportion 603 may or may not include an output device such as acommunication device. The treatment output portion 603 can beimplemented by driver software for an output device, or a combination ofdriver software for an output device and the output device, for example.

Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 500 isdescribed with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 17. Herein, for thesake of convenience, a case is described in which multiple state valuesin the same measurement unit, more specifically, multiple state valueshaving the same unit and zero point that have been transmitted from thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 or the like and acquired atdifferent times are received by the information processing apparatus500. The state values are, for example, multiple state values in thesame measurement unit, acquired by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 at different times in a case where the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 is caused to perform a desired treatmentaccording to the same settings in advance. Herein, it is assumed thateach of the multiple state values is associated with information of thetime when that state value is acquired. Herein, it is assumed that asthe standard value, a targeted value for control of the state values isset in advance. Furthermore, a first threshold value serving as theupper limit value and a second threshold value serving as the lowerlimit value, for setting the range of the state values obtained in acase where a treatment by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600and the like is properly performed are stored in advance in thethreshold value storage portion 503. It should be noted that thestandard value is between the first threshold value and the secondthreshold value.

(step S1701) The state value receiving portion 501 receives multiplestate values that are output by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 or the like. The received state values are accumulated ina storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

(step S1702) The calculating portion 504 acquires a standard value thatis stored in advance, from the standard value storage portion 502.

(step S1703) The calculating portion 504 acquires threshold values thatare stored in advance, from the threshold value storage portion 503.Herein, the calculating portion 504 acquires a first threshold value anda second threshold value.

(step S1704) The calculating portion 504 assigns 1 to a counter K.

(step S1705) The calculating portion 504 acquires a Kth state value.Herein, the state value receiving portion 501 acquires a state valuethat is a Kth value in time-series order acquired by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 or the like, among set values accumulated ina memory or the like (not shown).

(step S1706) The calculating portion 504 judges whether or not the statevalue is equal to or larger than the standard value. If the state valueis equal to or larger than the standard value, then the procedureproceeds to step S1707. If the state value is smaller than the standardvalue, then the procedure proceeds to step S611. Herein, it is alsopossible to judge whether or not the state value is larger than thestandard value, instead of judging whether or not the state value isequal to or larger than the standard value.

(step S1707) The calculating portion 504 calculates the ratio R byassigning the first threshold value acquired in step S1703 to thethreshold value in Equation 1 above, and assigning the Kth state valueacquired in step S1705 and the standard value acquired in step S1702respectively to the state value and the standard value in Equation 1.The calculated ratio R is accumulated in a storage medium such as amemory (not shown).

(step S1708) The calculating portion 504 increments the counter K by 1.

(step S1709) The calculating portion 504 judges whether or not there isa Kth state value. If there is a Kth state value, then the procedurereturns to step S1705. If there is no Kth state value, then theprocedure proceeds to step S1710.

(step S1710) The output portion 505 reads out the ratio R calculated bythe calculating portion 504 from a memory or the like, and outputs theratio R. The output portion 505 displays the ratio R on a graph, forexample. Then, the process is ended.

(step S1711) The calculating portion 504 calculates the ratio R byassigning the second threshold value acquired in step S1703 to thethreshold value in Equation 1 above, and assigning the Kth state valueacquired in step S1705 and the standard value acquired in step S1702respectively to the state value and the standard value in Equation 1.The calculated ratio R is accumulated in a storage medium such as amemory (not shown).

It should be noted that in the flowchart in FIG. 17, the above-describedprocess may be performed in a state where the standard value, thethreshold values, the multiple state values acquired at one time, andthe like are expressed as a matrix. For example, in a case where as thestate values, respective power values of the multiple heaters 631 ormultiple values obtained based on the temperatures acquired by themultiple temperature detecting portions 641 inside the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 are used, the state values may be expressedas a matrix in which the number of elements matches the number of theheaters 631 or the number of the temperature detecting portions 641. Inthis case, the process in step S1707, step S1711, and the like isperformed by a matrix operation, for example.

In the description above, a case is described in which state values inthe same measurement unit are used. However, in a case where statevalues in different measurement units are used, for example, in a casewhere the state values are state values in different units, afterperforming a process of obtaining the ratio using state values in thesame measurement unit, a similar process may be performed using statevalues in another measurement unit. For example, in a case where statevalues in different measurement units can be received in step S1701,after the process has been performed on state values in one measurementunit following the above-described flowchart, it may be judged whetheror not there is a state value in another measurement unit. If there is astate value in another measurement unit, then the procedure returns tostep S1702, for example, and a standard value and a threshold valuecorresponding to that measurement unit are acquired, and a process as inthe flowchart is repeated.

In the flowchart in FIG. 17, the process is ended by turning off poweror a processing-ending interruption.

The operation in which the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 inthe semiconductor manufacturing system performs a desired treatment oracquires a state value is a known art, and therefore a descriptionthereof is omitted.

Hereinafter, the specific operation of the semiconductor manufacturingsystem in this embodiment is described. FIG. 18 shows a conceptualdiagram of the semiconductor manufacturing system. Herein, it is assumedthat the information processing apparatus 500 is implemented by acomputer 50, for example. Furthermore, it is herein assumed that thecontrol portion 601, the treatment state value acquiring portion 602,and the treatment output portion 603 in the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 are implemented by a computer 60 for control, which is apart of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, for example. Itshould be noted that the set value and the state value used herein arevalues prepared for explanation, and are different from actuallymeasured values obtained when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus600 is caused to actually perform a desired treatment.

Herein, for example, it is assumed that the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 600 is a heat treatment apparatus. Furthermore, thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 repeatedly performs apredetermined process on semiconductor wafers on a batch-to-batch basisaccording to the same treatment settings, and the state value receivingportion 501 acquires, for each batch, a first state value, which is anaverage value of the temperatures detected by the temperature detectingportion 641 a in a period during which the treatment temperature isstable, and a second state value, which is an average pressure valueinside the treatment vessel 611 detected by the pressure detectingportion 617. The unit of the temperature serving as the first statevalue is degree (° C.), and the unit of the pressure serving as thesecond state value is Pascal (Pa). In this manner, the first state valueand the second state value are values in different measurement units,herein, in different units. The first state value and the second statevalue acquired by the treatment state value acquiring portion 602 aretemporarily accumulated by the treatment output portion 603, and theaccumulated multiple first state values and second state values aretransmitted from the treatment output portion 603 to the informationprocessing apparatus 500.

Furthermore, a targeted value for control of the temperate serving asthe first state value and a targeted value of pressure inside thetreatment vessel 611 serving as the second state value are stored inadvance in the standard value storage portion 502, respectively as astandard value for the first state value and a standard value for thesecond state value. These targeted values are standard values.Furthermore, a threshold value serving as the upper limit value(hereinafter, referred to as a “first threshold value”), and a thresholdvalue serving as the lower limit value (hereinafter, referred to as a“second threshold value”), for setting the range of each of thetemperature serving as the first state value and the pressure inside thetreatment vessel 611 serving as the second state value obtained in acase where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is performing aproper treatment are stored in the threshold value storage portion 503.It is assumed that the above-described standard value is positionedbetween the first threshold value and the second threshold value.

First, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is caused toperform a predetermined treatment, and the treatment state valueacquiring portion 602 acquires the temperature and the pressure duringthe treatment. The treatment state value acquiring portion 602calculates an average temperature value and an average pressure valuefor each batch. The treatment output portion 603 temporarily accumulatesthe calculated average temperature value, that is, the first statevalue, and the calculated average pressure value, that is, the secondstate value, in a memory or the like (not shown). This process isrepeated for multiple batches.

The treatment output portion 603 transmits the accumulated multiplefirst state values and second state values to the information processingapparatus 500. There is no limitation on a timing, trigger, or the likefor performing the transmission. However, it is herein assumed that aninstruction requesting the first state values and the second statevalues is received from the information processing apparatus 500, andthe accumulated multiple first state values and second state values aretransmitted to the information processing apparatus 500 in response tothis instruction.

The state value receiving portion 501 receives the average temperaturevalues serving as the first state values and the average pressure valuesserving as the second state values for multiple batches. The state valuereceiving portion 501 temporarily stores the received first state valuesand second state values in a memory or the like.

FIG. 19 shows the first state values received by the state valuereceiving portion 501, as a graph. In FIG. 19, the horizontal axisrepresents time, herein, the number of batches, and the vertical axisrepresents the first state values, that is, the average values of thetemperatures detected by the temperature detecting portions 641 a.Furthermore, T_(S) denotes a standard value of the first state value,T_(H) denotes a first threshold value of the first state value, andT_(L) denotes a second threshold value of the first state value. If thefirst state value is between the first threshold value T_(H) and thesecond threshold value T_(L), then it is judged that a treatment hasbeen properly performed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus600.

FIG. 20 shows the second state values received by the state valuereceiving portion 501, as a graph. In FIG. 20, the horizontal axisrepresents time, herein, the number of batches, and the vertical axisrepresents the second state values, that is, the average pressure valuesdetected by the pressure detecting portion 617. Furthermore, P_(S)denotes a standard value of the second state value, P_(H) denotes afirst threshold value of the second state value, and P_(L) denotes asecond threshold value of the second state value. If the second statevalue is between the first threshold value P_(H) and the secondthreshold value P_(L), then it is judged that a treatment has beenproperly performed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600.

Next, the calculating portion 504 reads out the standard value T_(S),and the first threshold value T_(H) and the second threshold valueT_(L), corresponding to the first state values, from the standard valuestorage portion 502 and the threshold value storage portion 503. Then,the ratio R is obtained by performing calculation using Equation 1above, for each of the first state values received by the state valuereceiving portion 501. Herein, the ratio R calculated for the firststate value is taken as R₁. It should be noted that informationindicating Equation 1 above is stored in advance in a storage mediumsuch as a memory (not shown).

In a similar manner, the calculating portion 504 reads out the standardvalue P_(S), and the first threshold value P_(H) and the secondthreshold value P_(L), corresponding to the second state values, fromthe standard value storage portion 502 and the threshold value storageportion 503. Then, the ratio R is obtained by performing calculationusing Equation 1 above, for each of the second state values received bythe state value receiving portion 501. Herein, the ratio R calculatedfor the second state value is taken as R₂.

The output portion 505 displays a graph of the ratio R₁ calculated forthe first state values and a graph of the ratio R₂ calculated for thesecond state values in a superimposed manner such that their zero pointsmatch each other.

FIG. 21 shows a display example of a graph in which the ratio R₁ and theratio R₂ are superimposed, on a display screen 510 of the informationprocessing apparatus 500, for example. In FIG. 21, the horizontal axisrepresents time, herein, the number of batches, and the vertical axisrepresents the ratio R. Herein, the ratio R₁ and the ratio R₂ aredisplayed in a superimposed manner, but also may be displayed in anon-superimposed manner.

In this example, values obtained by subtracting the standard valuesserving as targeted values for control respectively from the first statevalue and the second state value in different units, and values obtainedby subtracting the standard values from the threshold valuesrespectively corresponding to the first state value and the second statevalue are obtained, and ratios therebetween are calculated. Therefore,if the state value matches the standard value, then the obtained value(ratio) is always 0. Furthermore, if the state value is a value betweenthe first threshold value and the second threshold value, then theobtained value (ratio) ranges from −1 to 1. More specifically, the firstthreshold value and the second threshold value are set to 1 and −1 thatare common threshold values. As a result, regardless of the differencein measurement units such as units, it is possible to easily comparedifferent state values with each other without depending on the units,by superimposing the state values such that the standard values matcheach other, and to monitor abnormality and the like in a treatmentperformed by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, using commonthreshold values. For example, in the foregoing example, whichever statevalue an output value corresponds to, if the output value is larger than1 or smaller than −1, then it is possible to judge that the state valuecorresponding to this value is larger than the first threshold value orsmaller than the second threshold value, thus making it possible tojudge that there is something wrong with a treatment performed by thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. Accordingly, it is possibleto monitor whether or not a treatment of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus is properly performed, for example, using a control chart onwhich graphs are integrated into one graph. Thus, it is possible toeasily monitor the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Herein, in a case where the graph of the first state values shown inFIG. 19 and the graph shown in FIG. 20 are simply superimposed whileignoring the units or the like such that their standard values matcheach other, the graph as shown in FIG. 22 is obtained. However, in thisgraph, the state values have different threshold values. Therefore, evenin a case where the second state value is equal to or smaller than thefirst threshold value of the second state value, if the second statevalue is larger than the first threshold value of the first state value,it may be erroneously judged by the user that the second state value isout of the range of normal values when the user cannot preciselydetermine whether the state value is the first state value or the secondstate value. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully monitor whether thestate value is the first state value or the second state value, and theburden for the user for monitoring increases. Thus, it is not possibleto easily compare or monitor state values in different measurement unitsas in the foregoing example.

In the foregoing example, a case is described in which two state valuesin different measurement units are used, but this embodiment can beapplied also to a case in which three or more state values in differentmeasurement units are used.

For example, a case is described in which in addition to averagetemperature values serving as the first state values and averagepressure values serving as the second state values described in theforegoing example, third state values that are average values of the gasflow rates of, for example, treatment gas introduced into the treatmentvessel 611 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 are used.

First, in a similar manner to that for the temperature and the like asdescribed above, the treatment state value acquiring portion 602acquires the gas flow rate of, for example, treatment gas in a casewhere the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600 is caused to performa predetermined treatment, and then calculates their average values. Theaverage values of the gas flow rates serve as third state values. Then,the treatment output portion 603 transmits the third states togetherwith the first state values and second state values described above.

The state value receiving portion 501 receives the gas flow rate servingas the third state values transmitted together with the first statevalues and the second state values.

FIG. 23 shows the gas flow rate serving as the third state valuesreceived by the state value receiving portion 501, as a graph. In FIG.23, the horizontal axis represents time, herein, the number of batches,and the vertical axis represents the average value of the gas flow ratesfor one batch. As the gas flow rate value, for example, a measured valueobtained with a mass flow controller (MFC) for controlling the flow rateof gas supplied to the gas introducing portion 613 of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600 is used. Furthermore, G_(S) denotes astandard value of the third state value, G_(H) denotes a first thresholdvalue of the third state value, and G_(L) denotes a second thresholdvalue of the third state value. The standard value G_(S) is stored inadvance in the standard value storage portion 502, and the thresholdvalues G_(H) and G_(L) are stored in advance in the threshold valuestorage portion 503. If the third state value is between the firstthreshold value G_(H) and the second threshold value G_(L), then it isjudged that a treatment has been properly performed by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 600.

In a similar manner to that for the first state value and the like, thecalculating portion 504 reads out the standard value G_(S), and thefirst threshold value G_(H) and the second threshold value G_(L),corresponding to the third state values, from the standard value storageportion 502 and the threshold value storage portion 503. Then, the ratioR is obtained by performing calculation using Equation 1 above, for eachof the third state values received by the state value receiving portion501. Herein, the ratio R calculated for the second state value is takenas R₃.

The output portion 505 displays the ratio R₃ calculated for the thirdstate values in a superimposed manner on the graph as shown in FIG. 21in which the ratio R₁ calculated for the first state values and theratio R₂ calculated for the second state values are superimposed suchthat their zero points match each other.

FIG. 24 is a display example of a graph in which the ratio R₁, the ratioR₂, and the ratio R₃ are superimposed, on the display screen 510 of theinformation processing apparatus 500, for example. In FIG. 24, thehorizontal axis represents time, herein, the number of batches, and thevertical axis represents the ratio R.

Also in this case, if the third state value matches the standard valueG_(S), then the obtained value (ratio) is always 0. Furthermore, if thethird state value is a value between the first threshold value G_(H) andthe second threshold value G_(L), then the obtained value (ratio) rangesfrom −1 to 1. More specifically, the first threshold value and thesecond threshold value for the third state value are set to 1 and −1that are common threshold values for the first and second state values,and the third state value. As a result, regardless of the difference inmeasurement units such as units, it is possible to easily comparedifferent state values with each other without depending on the units,by superimposing the state values such that the standard values matcheach other, and to monitor abnormality and the like in a treatment bythe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600, using common thresholdvalues.

As described above, according to this embodiment, each ratio between avalue relating to the difference between the state value received by thestate value receiving portion 501 and the standard value, and a valuerelating to the difference between the threshold value and the standardvalue is calculated, and thus it is possible to convert values that aredifferent from each other in measurement unit such as unit, into valuestaking the respective threshold values into consideration, withoutdepending on the units. Thus, it is possible to obtain, from statevalues in different units, values suitable for analysis such ascomparison or monitoring of data. Accordingly, it is possible to easilycompare or monitor state values in different measurement units.

In this embodiment, in a case where the state value receiving portion501 receives two or more state values in different measurement units,the configuration also may be applied in which a multivariate analysisportion 506 is provided as shown in FIG. 25, and the output portion 505outputs the results of multivariate analysis performed by themultivariate analysis portion 506 instead of the ratios calculated bythe calculating portion 504.

The multivariate analysis portion 506 performs multivariate analysisusing the calculation results of the calculating portion 504 performedon two or more state values in different measurement units. The analysisperformed by the multivariate analysis portion 506 may be any analysissuch as discriminant analysis using Mahalanobis' distance or multipleregression analysis. The multivariate analysis is a known art, andtherefore the detailed description thereof is omitted. The multivariateanalysis portion 506 can be typically implemented as an MPU or a memory,for example. Furthermore, information of equations and the like in themultivariate analysis is typically stored in a storage medium such as amemory. Typically, the process procedure of the multivariate analysisportion 506 is implemented by software, and the software is stored in astorage medium such as a ROM. Note that the process procedure also maybe implemented by hardware (dedicated circuit).

As in conventional examples, in a case where information obtained byperforming the standardization using the standard deviation on statevalues is used for the multivariate analysis, when the state values arenot normally-distributed, even if a state value that is significantlydifferent from other values is actually in the range of normal valuesthat can be taken by the state values, as a result of the multivariateanalysis, the state value may be judged to be a value that issignificantly different from other values, and may be evaluated as anabnormal value.

However, in this embodiment, the standardization of the state values isperformed taking the threshold values of the state values intoconsideration, instead of the standard deviation. Therefore, even if thestate values are not normally-distributed, as long as a state value thatis significantly different from other values is in the area that isjudged to be normal based on the threshold values, it is possible toreduce the possibility that as a result of the multivariate analysis,the value is judged to be significantly different from other values.With this modified example, using state values in different units,appropriate multivariate analysis can be performed taking the thresholdvalues of the respective state values into consideration.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiment, the information processingapparatus 500 may be used as a single apparatus by separating it fromthe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 600. In this case, forexample, the information processing apparatus 500 may receive data thatis to be processed, via a storage medium.

Furthermore, in the foregoing example, a case is described in which thestate values are the temperature, the pressure, and the gas flow rate,but the present invention can be applied also to other state values.

Also, in the foregoing embodiments, each processing (each function) maybe realized by integrated processing by a single device (system), oralternatively, may be realized by distributed processing by multipledevices.

Also, in the foregoing embodiments, each component may be configuredwith dedicated hardware, or alternatively, components that can berealized with software may be realized by executing a program. Forexample, each component can be realized by a program execution portionsuch as a CPU reading and executing a software program that has beenstored on a storage medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory.

Herein, the software that implements the information processing devicein the foregoing embodiments may be a following program. Specifically,this program is a program for causing a computer to process a statevalue, which is a value relating to a state during a treatment,performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing atreatment on a treatment target containing a semiconductor according toa set value, which is a value for setting a condition of a treatment,wherein the program causes the computer to execute: a set valuereceiving step of receiving the set value; a state value receiving stepof receiving the state value; a correction amount calculating step ofcalculating a correction amount of the state value, using a correctionfunction, which is a function indicating a relationship between the setvalue and the correction amount; a correcting step of correcting thestate value received in the state value receiving step, using thecorrection amount calculated in the correction amount calculating step;and an output step of outputting the state value corrected in thecorrecting step.

Furthermore, the software that implements the information processingapparatus in Embodiment 1 may be a following program. Specifically, thisprogram is a program for causing a computer to process a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value,which is a value for setting a condition of a treatment, wherein theprogram causes the computer to execute: a set value receiving step ofreceiving the set value; a state value receiving step of receiving thestate value; a correction amount calculating step of calculating acorrection amount corresponding to a change amount, with respect to apredetermined value, of the set value received in the set valuereceiving step is calculated, using the correction function, which is afunction indicating a relationship between a change amount of the setvalue and the correction amount, which is a change amount of the statevalue predicted based on the change amount of the set value; acorrecting step of correcting the state value received in the statevalue receiving step, using the correction amount calculated in thecorrection amount calculating step; and an output step of outputting thestate value corrected in the correcting step.

Furthermore, the software that implements the information processingapparatus in Embodiment 2 may be a following program. Specifically, thisprogram is a program for causing a computer to process a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value,which is a value for setting a condition of a treatment, wherein theprogram causes the computer to execute: a set value receiving step ofreceiving the set value; a state value receiving step of receiving thestate value; a correction amount calculating step of calculating acorrection amount corresponding to the set value received in the setvalue receiving step is calculated using, the correction function, whichis a function indicating a relationship between the set value and thecorrection amount, which is a state value predicted based on the setvalue; a correcting step of correcting the state value received in thestate value receiving step, using the correction amount calculated inthe correction amount calculating step; and an output step of outputtingthe state value corrected in the correcting step.

Furthermore, the software that implements the information processingapparatus in Embodiment 3 may be a following program. Specifically, thisprogram is a program for causing a computer to process a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor, wherein the program causesthe computer to execute: a state value receiving step of receiving thestate value; a calculating step of calculating a ratio between a valuerelating to a difference between the state value received in the statevalue receiving step and a stored standard value serving as standard forthe state value, and a value relating to a difference between a storedthreshold value used for judging whether or not the state value is adesired value, and the standard value; and an output step of outputtingthe ratio calculated in the calculating step.

Furthermore, in this program, in the state value receiving step,multiple state values in different measurement units are received, inthe calculating step, the ratio corresponding to each of the multiplestate values in different measurement units is calculated, and in theoutput step, the multiple ratios calculated in the calculating step areoutput.

Furthermore, the program is a program for causing a computer to processa state value, which is a value relating to a state during a treatment,performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing atreatment on a treatment target containing a semiconductor, wherein theprogram causes the computer to execute: a state value receiving step ofreceiving the multiple state values in different measurement units; acalculating step of calculating, for each of the multiple state valuesin different measurement units, a ratio between a value relating to adifference between the state value received in the state value receivingstep and a stored standard value serving as standard for the statevalue, and a value relating to a difference between a stored thresholdvalue used for judging whether or not the state value is a desiredvalue, and the standard value; a multivariate analysis step ofperforming multivariate analysis, using the multiple ratios calculatedin the calculating step; and an output step of outputting a result ofanalysis performed in the multivariate analysis step.

Furthermore, in this program, the threshold value used in thecalculating step for calculating a ratio is a value in a subrange towhich the state value belongs, of a possible range of the state valuethat is divided into two subranges by the standard value.

In the above-described programs, in an output step of outputtinginformation, a receiving step of receiving information, or the like,processing that is performed by hardware (processing that can only beperformed with hardware), for example, processing performed by a modem,an interface card, or the like in the output step, is not included.

Also, this program may be executed by downloading from a server or thelike, or may be executed by reading a program that has been stored on apredetermined storage medium (for example, an optical disk such as aCD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like).

The computer that executes this program may be a single computer ormultiple computers. That is, centralized processing or distributedprocessing may be performed.

Also, in the foregoing embodiments, it would be appreciated that two ormore communication units (such as information transmitting portions) inone device may be physically implemented by one medium.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments set forthherein. Various modifications are possible within the scope of thepresent invention.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, the information processingapparatus may be a stand-alone apparatus, or may be a server apparatusin a server-client system. In the latter case, the output portion, thereceiving portion, the set value receiving portion, and the like receivethe input, or outputs data to screen, via a communication line.

As described above, the information processing apparatus and the likeaccording to the present invention are suitable as an informationprocessing apparatus and the like for processing information obtainedduring a manufacturing process performed by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus. In particular, they are useful as aninformation processing apparatus and the like for processing informationobtained as a result of performing a treatment performed using differentset values. In particular, they are useful as an information processingapparatus and the like for processing values that are different fromeach other in measurement unit such as unit.

1. An information processing apparatus for processing a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing the treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value,which is a value for setting a condition of the treatment, comprising: aset value receiving portion that receives the set value; a state valuereceiving portion that receives the state value; a specified valuestorage portion that stores a preset specified value into which the setvalue received by the set value receiving portion is to be changed; acorrection function storage portion that stores a correction functionindicating a relationship between a change amount of the set value and achange amount of the state value; a correction amount calculatingportion that calculates a correction amount, which is a change amount ofthe state value of a case when the set value is changed into the presetspecified value, by assigning a change amount of the set value receivedby the set value receiving portion with respect to the preset specifiedvalue stored in the specified value storage portion, to the correctionfunction stored in the correction function storage portion; a correctingportion that corrects the state value received by the state valuereceiving portion, using the correction amount calculated by thecorrection amount calculating portion, to correct the state valuereceived by the state value receiving portion into a state value of thecase when the set value is changed into the preset specified value; andan output portion that outputs the state value corrected by thecorrecting portion.
 2. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the correction function is a function having, as acoefficient, a correction matrix for setting the correction function,the correction matrix being a matrix in which a value of each column isa value of a change amount of a state value obtained in a case where thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus is caused to perform a treatmentwhile a value of each element in a matrix representing a desired setvalue is sequentially changed by a unit amount.
 3. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correctionfunction is a function having, as a coefficient, steady-state gain of atransfer function of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
 4. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecorrection function is a function obtained using multiple groups of theset value and the state value that is output by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus during the treatment according to the set value.5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, furthercomprising a correction function generating portion that generates thecorrection function, using the multiple groups of the set value and thestate value that is output by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatusduring the treatment according to the set value.
 6. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the correctionfunction is a function expressed as an approximation formula obtainedusing the multiple groups of the set value and the state value that isoutput by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus during a treatmentaccording to the set value.
 7. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the correction function is a functionobtained using multiple groups of the set value and the state value thatis output by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus during thetreatment according to the set value.
 8. The information processingapparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a correction functiongenerating portion that generates the correction function, using themultiple groups of the set value and the state value that is output bythe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus during the treatment accordingto the set value.
 9. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein the correction function is a function expressed as anapproximation formula obtained using the multiple groups of the setvalue and the state value that is output by the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus during the treatment according to the set value.10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe set value is the value for setting the condition of the treatment onthe treatment target inside the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,and the state value is a value indicating a state during a treatment ata position other than a position at which the treatment target isdisposed in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
 11. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setvalue receiving portion receives multiple set values, the state valuereceiving portion receives multiple state values respectivelycorresponding to the multiple set values, the correction amountcalculating portion calculates multiple correction amounts respectivelycorresponding to the multiple state values, using the correctionfunction, the correcting portion corrects the multiple state valuesrespectively corresponding to the multiple correction amounts calculatedby the correction amount calculating portion, by the multiple correctionamounts, and the output portion outputs the multiple state valuescorrected by the correcting portion.
 12. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set value receiving portionreceives a first set value and a second set value each serving as theset value, the state value receiving portion receives a first statevalue and a second state value respectively corresponding to the firstset value and the second set value, the correction amount calculatingportion calculates a correction amount of the second state value, basedon a change amount of the second set value with respect to the first setvalue serving as a predetermined value, using the correction function,the correcting portion corrects the second state value by the correctionamount, and the output portion outputs the second state value correctedby the correcting portion and the first state value.
 13. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set value is aset value of temperature inside the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus, and the state value is a measured value of temperature insidethe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
 14. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set value is aset value of temperature at a predetermined position inside thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and the state value is a powervalue of a heater that heats an internal portion of the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus.
 15. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the correction amount calculating portioncalculates the correction amount by assigning a value obtained bysubtracting the preset specified value stored in the specified valuestorage portion from the set value received by the set value receivingportion, to the correction function stored in the correction functionstorage portion, and the correcting portion corrects the state valuereceived by the state value receiving portion by subtracting thecorrection amount from the state value.
 16. A semiconductormanufacturing system, comprising a semiconductor manufacturing apparatusfor performing a treatment on a treatment target containing asemiconductor, and the information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprises: atreatment set value receiving portion that receives the set value; acontrol portion that controls the treatment on the treatment targetaccording to the set value; a treatment state value acquiring portionthat acquires the state value; and a treatment output portion thatoutputs the state value.
 17. The semiconductor manufacturing systemaccording to claim 16, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatusfurther comprises: a treatment vessel in which the treatment isperformed on the treatment target; at least one heater that heats aninternal portion of the treatment vessel; and at least one temperaturedetecting portion that detects a temperature inside the treatmentvessel, the set value is a value for setting a temperature at apredetermined position inside the treatment vessel, the control portioncontrols the temperature inside the treatment vessel, by controlling theat least one heater, and the treatment state value acquiring portionacquires a state value that is a value of the temperature detected bythe temperature detecting portion.
 18. The semiconductor manufacturingsystem according to claim 17, wherein the control portion controls thetemperature inside the treatment vessel, according to the temperaturedetected by the at least one temperature detecting portion.
 19. Thesemiconductor manufacturing system according to claim 16, wherein thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus further comprises: a treatmentvessel in which the treatment is performed on the treatment target; andat least one heater that heats an internal portion of the treatmentvessel, the set value is a value for setting a temperature at apredetermined position inside the treatment vessel, the control portioncontrols a temperature inside the treatment vessel, by controlling theat least one heater, and the treatment state value acquiring portionacquires a state value that is a power value of the at least one heater.20. The semiconductor manufacturing system according to claim 19,wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus further comprises atleast one temperature detecting portion that detects the temperatureinside the treatment vessel, and the control portion controls thetemperature inside the treatment vessel, according to the temperaturedetected by the at least one temperature detecting portion.
 21. A methodof an information processing apparatus for processing a state value,which is a value relating to a state during a treatment, performed by asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing the treatment on atreatment target containing a semiconductor according to a set value,which is a value for setting a condition of the treatment, comprising:receiving the set value; receiving the state value; calculating, by theinformation processing apparatus, a correction amount, which is a changeamount of the state value of a case when the set value is changed into apreset specified value stored in a specified value storage portion, byassigning a change amount of the set value received by the set valuereceiving portion with respect to the preset specified value stored inthe specified value storage portion, to a correction function stored ina correction function storage portion, the correction functionindicating a relationship between a change amount of the set value and achange amount of the state value; correcting the state value received inthe state value receiving step, using the correction amount calculatedin the calculating step, to correct the state value received by thestate value receiving portion into a state value of the case when theset value is changed into the preset specified value; and outputting thestate value corrected in the correcting step.
 22. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having a program for causing a computerto process a state value, which is a value relating to a state during atreatment, performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus forperforming the treatment on a treatment target containing asemiconductor according to a set value, which is a value for setting acondition of the treatment, wherein the program causes the computer toexecute: receiving the set value; receiving the state value; calculatinga correction amount, which is a change amount of the state value of acase when the set value is changed into a preset specified value storedin a specified value storage portion, by assigning a change amount ofthe set value received by the set value receiving portion with respectto the preset specified value stored in the specified value storageportion, to a correction function stored in a correction functionstorage portion, the correction function indicating a relationshipbetween a change amount of the set value and a change amount of thestate value; correcting the state value received in the state valuereceiving step, using the correction amount calculated in thecalculating step, to correct the state value received by the state valuereceiving portion into a state value of the case when the set value ischanged into the preset specified value; and outputting the state valuecorrected in the correcting step.